Passes the Bechdel test
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
2022. Directed by Ryan Coogler, written by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole and Stan Lee.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
25 women characters. 17 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 29 scenes out of 214. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M'Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje fight to protect the kingdom of Wakanda from intervening world powers in the wake of King T'Challa's death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia and Everett Ross and forge a new path for their nation.
- Released
- 11 Nov 2022
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 67 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 53 wins & 173 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Shuri 282 lines, woman
- Ramonda 148 lines, woman
- Okoye 115 lines, woman
- Namor 103 lines, man
- Riri 103 lines, woman
- Ross 79 lines, man
- Nakia 78 lines, woman
- M’Baku 44 lines, man
- Griot 40 lines, man
- Val 38 lines, woman
Full cast, 78 people
- Letitia Wright as Shuri
- Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor
- Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia
- Danai Gurira as Okoye
- Winston Duke as M'Baku
- Angela Bassett as Ramonda
- Martin Freeman as Everett Ross
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine
- Dominique Thorne as Riri
- Florence Kasumba as Ayo
- Michaela Coel as Aneka
- Alex Livinalli as Attuma
- Mabel Cadena as Namora
- Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger
- Isaach de Bankolé as River Tribe Elder
- Danny Sapani as Border Tribe Elder
- Dorothy Steel as Merchant Tribe Elder
- Zainab Jah as Mining Tribe Elder
- Sope Aluko as Sope the Shaman
- Connie Chiume as Zawavari
- Trevor Noah as Griot (voice)
- Shawn Roberts as WDG Scientist
- Zola Williams as Zola
- Janeshia Adams-Ginyard as Nomble
- Jemini Powell as Jemini
- Marija Abney as Dora Milaje
- Keisha Tucker as Dora Milaje
- Ivy Haralson as Dora Milaje
- Maya Macatumpag as Dora Milaje
- Baaba Maal as Funeral Singer
- Jabari Exum as Drummer / Naval Guard
- Massamba Diop as Drummer
- Magatte Saw as Drummer
- Gerardo Aldana as Assembly Chairperson
- Richard Schiff as U.S. Secretary of State
- Gigi Bermingham as French Secretary of State
- Rudolph Massanga as Young Mali Technician
- Robert John Burke as Smitty
- Lake Bell as Dr. Graham
- Judd Wild as Jackson
- Amber Harrington as Rita Salazar
- Michael Blake Kruse as Henderson
- Justin James Boykin as Cargo Ship Helo Pilot
- Anderson Cooper as Anderson Cooper
- Mackenro Alexander as River Barrier Naval Guard
- Kamaru Usman as Naval Officer
- T. Love as M'Bele
- Floyd Anthony Johns Jr. as Jabari Warrior
- Jermaine Brantley as Jabari Warrior
- Granger Summerset II as Jabari Warrior
- Luke Lenza as MIT Student
- Alan Wells as Federal Agent
- Bill Barrett as FBI Special Agent
- Lieiry J. Perez Escalera as Haitian School Kid
- Sevyn Hill as Haitian School Kid
- Gavin Macon as Haitian School Kid
- Skylar Ebron as Haitian School Kid
- Taylor Holmes as Haitian School Kid
- Angela Cipra as Talokanil Guard
- Faya Madrid as Talokanil Guard
- María Telón as Female Mayan Elder
- María Mercedes Coroy as Namor's Mother
- Josué Maychi as Shaman
- Sal Lopez as Yucatan Elder
- Irma Estella La Guerre as Namor's Mother (Older)
- Manuel Chavez as Young Namor
- Leonardo Castro Sitiriche as Hacienda Owner
- Juan Carlos Cantu as Friar
- Shawntae Hughes as Fisherman
- Corey Hibbert as Terrified Man
- Zaiden James as Wakandan Kid
- Aba Arthur as Naval Engineer
- Délé Ogundiran as Flower Shop Owner
- Kevin Changaris as Pete
- Valerio Dorvillen as Haitian Taxi Passenger
- Don Castor as Haitian Taxi Passenger
- Jonathan González Collins as Haitian Taxi Passenger
- Divine Love Konadu-Sun as Toussaint
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 214
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | 13 | 6 |
| 6 to 10 | 11 | 0 |
| 11 to 15 | 2 | 2 |
| 16 to 20 | 3 | 1 |
| 21 to 25 | 3 | 1 |
| 26 to 30 | 3 | 1 |
| 31 to 35 | 5 | 6 |
| 36 to 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 to 45 | 4 | 0 |
| 46 to 50 | 107 | 26 |
| 51 to 55 | 68 | 15 |
| 56 to 60 | 24 | 3 |
| 61 to 65 | 10 | 2 |
| 66 to 70 | 12 | 3 |
| 71 to 75 | 8 | 1 |
| 76 to 80 | 42 | 25 |
| 81 to 85 | 27 | 25 |
| 86 to 90 | 81 | 2 |
| 91 to 95 | 4 | 19 |
| 96 to 100 | 19 | 23 |
| 101 to 105 | 26 | 21 |
| 106 to 110 | 14 | 14 |
| 111 to 115 | 76 | 21 |
| 116 to 120 | 26 | 2 |
| 121 to 125 | 5 | 4 |
| 126 to 130 | 2 | 0 |
| 131 to 135 | 1 | 1 |
| 136 to 140 | 3 | 2 |
| 141 to 145 | 1 | 0 |
| 146 to 150 | 4 | 0 |
| 151 to 155 | 3 | 3 |
| 156 to 160 | 0 | 1 |
| 161 to 165 | 28 | 12 |
| 166 to 170 | 50 | 24 |
| 171 to 175 | 46 | 22 |
| 176 to 180 | 29 | 18 |
| 181 to 185 | 9 | 11 |
| 186 to 190 | 12 | 11 |
| 191 to 195 | 6 | 4 |
| 196 to 200 | 11 | 7 |
| 201 to 205 | 18 | 13 |
| 206 to 210 | 1 | 0 |
| 211 to 214 | 57 | 9 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
OKOYE: PHAMBILLI!!! OKOYE: Aneka, where is your spear? ANEKA: The Princess gave me these to try out. I like them better. OKOYE: We are Dora Milaje. Not space cadets. Our foremothers used spears for millennia. It will not change under my watch.
RAMONDA: That thing unnerves me. I feel like one day artificial intelligence is going to kill us all. SHURI: My A.I. isn’t like the movies, mother. It does exactly what I tell it to do. RAMONDA: Ah. If only children were the same. RAMONDA: Everyone seems to be working diligently.
OKOYE: If you’re soldiers were present they’d still be choking on their furry costumes. RAMONDA: Show some respect you two.
SHURI: Kid? OKOYE: We’ll be discreet. SHURI: I bet the scientist is working for DARPA.
RIRI: Don’t touch anything. OKOYE: So the only other design plans for the machine are on that laptop? RIRI: Yeah. OKOYE: And you just leave it on a desk? In a car garage?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 71 are women's.
874 lines from women, 361 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
25 women and 34 men in the cast. 17 women and 26 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 16 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 68% of the words (9,950), men 32% (4,719). Women have 71% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
80
Two men
12
Exhibit F: behind the camera
6 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 37% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ryan Coogler (man)
- Written by
- Joe Robert Cole (man), Ryan Coogler (man)
- Story by
- Ryan Coogler (man)
- Produced by
- Nate Moore (man), Kevin Feige (man)
- Shot by
- Autumn Durald Arkapaw (woman)
- Edited by
- Kelley Dixon (woman), Jennifer Lame (woman), Michael P. Shawver (man)
- Music by
- Ludwig Göransson (man)
- Production design by
- Hannah Beachler (woman)
- Costumes by
- Ruth E. Carter (woman)
- Cast by
- Sarah Halley Finn (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Visual Effects
11 women, 27 men, 222 not listed
-
Art
9 women, 19 men, 56 not listed
-
Other crew
15 women, 23 men, 40 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 5 men, 59 not listed
-
Sound
10 women, 15 men, 15 not listed
-
Production
8 women, 8 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 44 on average. Men: 42 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Dominique Thorne 25, Letitia Wright 29, Lupita Nyong'o 39, Danai Gurira 44, Florence Kasumba 46, Julia Louis-Dreyfus 61, Angela Bassett 64
Men
Winston Duke 35, Tenoch Huerta Mejía 41, Martin Freeman 51
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $250 million
- Box office
- $859 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 214 scenes and 1,287 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
