News culture Following Marvel’s Wakanda, this new sci-fi series highlights Afrofuturism on Disney+
A new movement is gaining momentum in science fiction. The release of Black Panther and its fictional nation of Wakanda brought Afrofuturism into focus in 2018. Five years later, Disney+ is once again interested in this SF subgenre with an animated series planned for spring 2024.
T’Challa, played by the late Chadwick Boseman, became the figurehead of a movement for the emancipation of African cultures through a booming subgenre with the theatrical release of Black Panther in 2018. Afrofuturism is an “artistic movement and aesthetic that redefines the culture and conception of the “black community” through elements of science fiction and Afrocentrism in a non-Western framework.” The term first appeared in 1993
The futuristic novel “Tè Mawon” by science fiction author Michael Roch, published in March 2022, is the perfect representative of this contemporary movement. This literary work depicts a cyberpunk Caribbean universe in which the megalopolis of Lanvil has become a refuge for all the world’s migrants and a powder keg on the verge of explosion. Tè Mawon stands out from traditional SF through its use of a futuristic creole that requires constant attention from its readers to grasp all the intricacies of a single phrasing. Now it’s Disney+’s turn to become a pioneer of Afrofuturism.
An Afrofuturistic series on Disney+
Front east side an original animated series set in a futuristic version of Nigeria’s economic and cultural capital: Lagos. Produced by pan-African company Kugali Media, this Disney+ original draws on the talents of director Olufikayo Ziki Adeola and the cultural background of Toluwalakin Olowofoyeku to transport subscribers to a romanticized African continent where technology and tradition intertwine to give birth to Afrofuturism The series should be the new representative.
This exciting coming-of-age story follows Tola, a wealthy island girl, and her best friend Kole, a self-taught tech expert, as they discover the secrets and dangers hidden in their different worlds. -Walt Disney Animation Studios
The voices of the miniseries Iwájú:
- We feel sorry for Gbadamosi
- Dayo Okeniyi
- Femi branch
- A Soetan
- Weruche Opia
The animated miniseries Iwájú arrives on Disney+ on April 3rd.
