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Eyes of Wakanda Official Teaser: Four Warriors, For Wakanda

Along with a new teaser for Marvel Animation and showrunner Todd Harris's Eyes of Wakanda, we look at the MCU history of Wakanda's War Dogs.

On Friday, August 1, Marvel Animation and showrunner/director Todd Harris's four-episode "Black Panther" universe series, Eyes of Wakanda, spotlights the adventures of brave Wakandan warriors throughout history. In this globe-trotting adventure, the heroes must carry out dangerous missions to retrieve Vibranium artifacts from the enemies of Wakanda. They are the Hatut Zaraze, and this is their story. With only two days to go before the animated series hits, we're getting another look at what we can expect with a new teaser – but that's not (as you're about to see).

"My goal for the whole show was to do the thing that a movie has trouble doing, which is making the world bigger," Harris shared regarding the role that the series plays. "It is a nation with multiple zip codes. It was mostly just expanding the backdrop of the world that Ryan was able to establish, with just a little bit more time and a few more opportunities at the watering hole. These things have been around for this long, really spreading out the mythology of Wakanda."

The voice cast includes Winnie Harlow (America's Next Top Model) as Noni and Cress Williams (Black Lightning) as the Lion. They're joined by Patricia Belcher, Larry Herron, Adam Gold, Lynn Whitfield, Jacques Colimon, Jona Xiao, Isaac Robinson-Smith, Gary Anthony Williams, and Zeke Alton. In addition, Anika Noni Rose (The Princess and the Frog) and Steve Toussaint (House of the Dragon) have joined the cast.

Here's the complete episode of Marvel Studios: Legends spotlighting Wakanda's own War Dogs: fighters…. spies…. assassins… patriots… and more:

Eyes of Wakanda: Harris on "Black Panther" Spinoff, Iron Fist & More

During a presentation at Annecy that also included a screening of the first episode (S01E01: "Into the Lion's Den"), Harris took questions and offered a lot of interesting insights into what viewers can expect from the epic, timeline-spanning animated series. The series opener is set in 1260 BC, with the spotlight on a disgraced former Dora Milaje, Noni (Winnie Harlow), who is tasked to track the "Lion" (Cress Williams).

Formerly a member of the Wakandan guard, "Lion" stole some very key technology from Wakanda before jumping ship to create his own empire with a group of pirates made up of fighters from around the globe. While each of the four chapters is self-contained and the season spans a number of time periods, a major overarching link will be the impact that Lion's actions have across the timeline. As for any familiar faces who might be making an appearance, Harris confirmed at least one (kinda). "There will be an Iron Fist in here, and not the Iron Fist you expect," the director added.

"The show is anthology adjacent. We have the spark or impetus for the show: someone takes something that doesn't belong to them and, like any person or institution, they make a concerted effort to get it back," Harris shared about the overall premise behind Eyes of Wakanda. But while that may be what serves as the jumping off point for the animated series, Harris added that it's also about focusing on a society that's committed to its country's growth and success. That means being willing to sacrifice in the here and now for the hope of a brighter future.

"Wakanda is a 3,000-year-old society. They have a very succinct self-identity, and they're preserving that. We get the chance to see the kind of persistence and character of Wakandans. The premise of the show is, 'What's the kind of culture that builds the Black Panther?' You see this even in their generals, their sergeants, everyday citizens," Harris added. "Everybody in Wakanda is like a physicist… you see their patience over centuries to see work that they will never be able to see get finished, but they believe in their mission as a culture, to see this work through. So we kind of hopscotch through time, as we see these people pursue the goals of their country, which is to preserve the secret of their technology and who they are."

In terms of fleshing out the history of Wakanda (Harris: "like Star Trek, which is dropped in the middle of Africa"), Harris shared that "Black Panther" franchise director and EP Ryan Coogler gave the writers a pretty large sandbox to creatively play in. "Ryan [Coogler] really just let us go hog wild. He was very inspirational. He really zeroed in on the Sea People of the Bronze Age. It's a very contested historical point in history, this thing where these people kind of raided everybody. The premise was, 'What if they were led by Wakandans? What kind of disruptive force would they be in this era?'" Harris added.

The animated series is directed by Todd Harris and executive-produced by Ryan Coogler. The show is also executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, and Proximity Media's Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and Kalia King.

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