Who Nakia is
The first time we see Nakia, she is in the middle of a mission in the forest, freeing kidnapped women from a convoy. T'Challa has come to bring her home for his coronation, and she is not thrilled about being pulled away from work. That scene sums her up: brave, independent and more interested in the people in front of her than in palace ceremony.
She is also T'Challa's former love, and the film never makes her choose between him and her values. Nakia wants Wakanda to share its resources, take in refugees and use its technology to help the world. It is a serious political view, and it is the same question the villain asks in a far angrier voice.
Her two films in order
- Black Panther (2018, film, essential)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022, film, recommended)
Black Panther gives her a large role. Wakanda Forever uses her more sparingly, but her return matters.
Turning points
In Black Panther, Nakia is the most outward-looking person in T'Challa's circle. She joins him on a mission to a casino in Busan, where she fights in a gown and proves as capable as Okoye. When Wakanda's throne is thrown into crisis, she makes a quick and brave choice that keeps the story alive. It is a great moment for the character, and it shows how she acts when rules and doing the right thing pull apart.
Wakanda Forever finds her living a quieter life away from Wakanda. The film explains why, and her reasons are moving rather than dramatic. She returns when the people she loves need help, and her spy skills play a part in the story's middle stretch. The film's mid-credits scene belongs largely to her, and it is best seen without warning.
Her circle
Nakia and Okoye are a fun pairing: the spy who questions tradition and the general who lives by it. They argue, then fight side by side anyway. Erik Killmonger shares her belief that Wakanda should act in the wider world, but his method is conquest, and the contrast between them is one of the smartest ideas in the film. In Wakanda Forever, Namor and his underwater kingdom become the new threat. Queen Ramonda and M'Baku round out the Wakandan leadership around her.
Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia
Nyong'o gives Nakia a mix of warmth and steel. Her scenes with Chadwick Boseman feel easy and lived-in, and she handles the action just as naturally. Outside the MCU, she is known for 12 Years a Slave, for playing two roles in Jordan Peele's horror film Us and for voicing the robot Roz in The Wild Robot. Star Wars fans also know her voice and motion-capture work as Maz Kanata.
How to watch her story
Start with Black Panther. It works as a standalone film, though seeing Captain America: Civil War first explains how T'Challa became king. Then watch Wakanda Forever. Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame happen in between, and Wakanda plays a big part in both, so watch them if you want the full journey of T'Challa and Shuri. If you only care about Nakia, the two Black Panther films are enough.