The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a grand tapestry of stories, filled with a wide variety of characters, but also technology. Have you ever wanted to learn more about the tech in the MCU movies and how it relates to the characters we love?
A new tie-in book published by Epic Ink and Marvel has recently been released. The Wakanda Files: A Technological Exploration of the Avengers and Beyond by Troy Benjamin takes the reader on a journey through the heroes and villains of the MCU and the technology that's used to make them tick.
What's more, the entire book is written from an in-universe perspective. Framed by archival information requests placed by Black Panther's brainy little sister, Shuri, we are given insider details on Tony Stark's arc reactor technology, the Falcon's EXO-7 flight pack, and even the super-soldier serum that was used to turn scrawny Steve Rogers into the heroic Captain America.
This is one of the coolest Marvel books one could pick up. The way it presents everything as if it came straight out of the world of the MCU is nothing short of brilliant. Taking the form of memos, personal logs, personnel files, and classified S.H.I.E.L.D. documents, the reader really begins to feel like The Wakanda Files actually took these passages from the characters themselves — as though they were really speaking. That's how authentic the whole thing feels.
The overall presentation is stylish as well, featuring a textured hardcover with an attached blacklight housed in a "Kimoyo bead." This blacklight is intended to be shined on the pages to reveal hidden messages and info. Unfortunately, the light that came with my copy was broken and didn't work. In fact, the Kimoyo bead itself feels cheap in-hand.
Luckily, the vast majority of the text in the book is available for all to see without the use of a black light, which is a very good thing as the info in the book is especially intriguing.
There are pages that talk about Peter Parker's Iron Spider suit, War Machine's Iron Patriot update, and even Howard Stark's unsuccessful flying car from the '40s.
One important thing to mention: W akanda Files does not hold the hand of the reader. No, it expects you to have seen the majority of the MCU films and be pretty familiar with character names and details. From that perspective, this does create something of a barrier regarding accessibility to fledgling Marvel fans.
If you're a die-hard Marvel Cinematic Universe fan, this The Wakanda Files is 100% for you. The details and passages offered by various characters are a ton of fun and the book overall is a blast to go through.
At a price tag of $54 USD, yeah, it's a bit of an expensive get, but the page count is over 160 pages. It's well worth the sticker price.
The Wakanda Files: A Technological Exploration of the Avengers and Beyond would make for an awesome gift for just about any Marvel Studios fan, young or old, for the upcoming holiday season.
