Happy Friday, Geekly Gang! Marvel Studios Animation released its fifth project in its short four years of existence with Eyes of Wakanda. This series looks amazing. The premise of time-hopping through history, showing Wakanda’s secret spies, the Hatut Zaraze (War Dogs), retrieving Wakanda’s advanced technology, sounds exciting. And Eyes of Wakanda is fun, I can see where storyboard artist Todd Harris wanted to go with Eyes of Wakanda’s story, but the reduced episode run makes it difficult for the Eyes of Wakanda to find its stride.

The War Dogs’ mission is to sneak into outside countries and recover lost Vibranium artifacts that, if they fall into the wrong hands, could expose or bring harm to Wakanda. The Hatut Zaraze do their best to keep Wakanda hidden from the outside world. This idea dovetails into the first Black Panther film; Killmonger found a Wakandan artifact on display in a museum. More on this moment later. Eyes of Wakanda’s first season features four key moments in Wakandan history: the Bronze Age, the Trojan War, the beginning of China’s Ming dynasty, and the First Italo-Ethiopian War. Each episode leans into the region’s cultural aesthetics. Eyes of Wakanda shows accurate depictions of the people who lived in each location during that time. I can’t say it enough, the art style is fabulous.

I also like how these four episodes are stand-alone stories. You don’t need to watch either of the Black Panther movies or do any other MCU homework. Everything you need to know is contained in four half-hour episodes. The first and final episodes of Eyes of Wakanda’s first season stand out above the middle two. I like the idea of reintroducing Iron Fist in the third episode–there’s hope we’ll have another Iron Fist sighting in the MCU–but the middle two episodes don’t do as much to explore Wakanda. The first episode shows how far advanced Wakanda is from the rest of a Bronze Age society. The fourth directly ties into Black Panther and Killmonger (this is the artifact, the axe, Killmonger steals from the museum). I have mixed feelings about forcing Eyes of Wakanda to connect with Black Panther, but the MCU is going to MCU. The bookend episodes also delve further into their protagonists.

In the first episode, we follow failed Dora Milaje candidate Noni, while the fourth episode centers on eager Wakandan Prince Tafari. I didn’t see the same character development in the middle two episodes. Or at least, the middle two didn’t stand out as much.

Eyes of Wakanda’s short run works against it. A couple more episodes like the first and fourth could’ve allowed Eyes of Wakanda to find its footing. Several television shows need at least two or three episodes to “really get going,” and I got that vibe from Eyes of Wakanda. With a larger episode order, Marvel Studios Animations could’ve shown more sides of Wakanda.

Still, what’s here is fun, and two hours isn’t a long investment for an animated series. And I can’t stress how amazing Eyes of Wakanda’s animation is. To this point, What If? was Marvel Studios Animations’ crowning achievement for art style and direction. Eyes of Wakanda gives What If? a run for its money. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.