Eyes of Wakandais a new Marvel Animation series that revisits historical and mythological moments through, well, the eyes of Wakanda. In each of the series’ four episodes, agents of the Hatut Zeraze, or War Dogs, are tasked with retrieving one of Wakanda’s lost artifacts. The series was executive produced by Ryan Cooler and created by Todd Harris.
The scope ofEyes of Wakandamay be its standout quality. Episodes ofMarvel’s newest streaming hittransport audiences to Minoan Crete in 1260 BC, theIliad’s Troy in 1200 BC, 1400s China, and 1896 Ethiopia, and offer a glimpse hundreds of years into the future as well. To musically match the show’s epic ambitions, Marvel enlisted a veteran.
Moon Knightcomposer Hesham Nazihreturns to Marvel for the first time since 2022 with his music forEyes of Wakanda. The composer wrote nearly wall-to-wall music for his first major animation project, guiding viewers through its compelling narrative with the sounds of choirs and unique instruments.
ScreenRantinterviewed Hesham Nazih about his work defining the musical world ofEyes of Wakanda. Nazih shared how he landed on his instrumentation, what his process was, and what has stuck with him about the showScreenRant’sEyes of Wakandareviewdubbed“energetic and entertaining,”and a series that“breaks the Marvel mold.”
Hesham Nazih’s Trick For Redefining Wakanda’s Sound
Years after Egyptian composer Hesham Nazih pulled from his own roots to scoreMoon Knight, he has returned to the Marvel Cinematic Universe withEyes of Wakanda.“We’ve been discussing multiple other projects,”Nazih revealed,“but this one landed safely.”
Eyes of Wakandahad Nazih compose music for different parts of the ancient world–and for his first-ever attempt at scoring animation, no less–but he was ready:“It was a bit of a learning curve, which is fun. You get to learn new stuff. It is always fun to step into a piece that you know nothing about.”
“I love this feeling of being a complete stranger,”he continued.“I’m following the white rabbit, which is great … what it’s all about is exploring and finding new territories.”
But althoughEyes of Wakandaintroduces new characters and explores unseen parts of the fictional nation’s history, Wakanda itself has been musically explored.“The score that Ludwig [Göransson] did … is fantastic,”Nazih said, adding,“I listened to it multiple times.”But Nazih didn’t want to simply copy Göransson, so he had to find a way to avoid the influence.
“The only thing that helped me depart from it and keep going is that I brainwashed myself. I kind of convinced myself that it doesn’t exist.”
How Eyes Of Wakanda Found Its Voice(s)
One major way in which Nazih broke from the established sound of theBlack Panthermovies was through his use of vocals. Vocals did feature onBlack Panther, contributed in part by Senegalese singer and guitarist Baaba Maal, but Nazih often employed more layered ensembles and chased a bigger vocal sound.
“I use a lot of vocals because first, I love vocals,”Nazih said,“and second, they take you there instantly.If you want to describe a land, the best way to musically or sonically describe it is by its people.So, if it’s Africa, when you bring African people singing or chanting or humming, you are there instantly.”
“They’re human, you’re human; you’ll relate.”
“And if it’s China or Asia or the Mediterranean or Greece–[we’re] musically tracking all these places,”Nazih added,“vocals and choirs and chants are my go-to tools.”
But the composer had one hurdle to overcome before leaning into the human voice as heavily as he did.“You need to do a mockup to present it to the director and the executives, [like], ‘This is how it’s going to sound.’”And, he said,“You don’t find those kinds of chants in a library.”
“You need to get as close as possible to whatever you want to end up [with],”Nazih said,“and you make lots of promises: ‘Believe me, it’s going to sound great.’”
To help sell his vision, the composer even layered his own voice enough to make a choir of Hesham Nazihs, revealing that he“did that without telling them in a couple of passages.”
When that wasn’t enough, Nazih“called a friend of mine here in Cairo, [saying], ‘Can you please hear me out with this? I need to present a mockup and I don’t know how to do it.’”
Eyes Of Wakanda’s Ancient World Came Alive With These Instruments
Beyond his use of the human voice, Nazih worked to immerse audiences inEyes of Wakanda’s ancient civilizations through evoking era-appropriate sounds and instruments.“In the second episode, which was about Troy, I used a lot of [ancient Greek] flutes and string instruments in lots of passages, especially the scenes that describe the friendship between Memnon and Achilles.”
“All [those] scenes and passages were basically described by these flutes and the Greek harp, which is called a lyre.”
For episode three, Nazih shared that he used“lots of erhu, banhu, [and] Asian flute and percussion,”while in the series’ fourth episode, set in Ethiopia, he employed drums and a very specific musical scale.
Nazih explained more for music theory enthusiasts.“They have a pentatonic scale,”he said,“a very interesting one … it’s the same notes as the Western pentatonic, but the root is different. It’s slightly shifted.” “If it’s a pentatonic [where] the root is A,”he continued,“but if it’s a Sudanese [or] Ethiopian [pentatonic], the root will be the C.”
However, Nazih did more than lean into the time period.“The episodes are very dynamic,”he said,“they instantly jump back to the main conflict where [they’re] looking for the Vibranium …[when we go] back to the mission, we go back to the Wakandan, African music.”
Hesham Nazih’s First Step Into Animation
Although it’s only four episodes long,Eyes of Wakandais quite a first animation project for anyone to take on. And Nazih had little knowledge of the process to prepare him for scoring the series, he revealed:“I didn’t know how the process goes, and, in the beginning, I was surprised that I had to write music to animatics.”
“[They’re] basically drawings at a standstill … and I was like, ‘What?’”
The composer got the hang of it, though not before writing some music he had to recalibrate.“Sometimes the music was pushing too much–too hard,”he shared.“I had to [go], ‘Hey, wait, wait, wait. Got to remove a little of this. This is too much.’ And then I removed too much of it.”
“But by that time,”Nazih added,“they brought me more developed pictures, so I started to notice better movement, and I started to see colors. I was like, ‘Aha! So, this sound I’m injecting into this picture is not enough. This is not the right tone.’”
So Nazih tried again.“Then, towards the end, when I started to see some of the semi-final renderings of the show,”he revealed,“I was stunned by how incredible the picture is. I was like, ‘Wow, the music is so feeble. No, no, no, I need to redo everything.’”
“This is where [Marvel and I] went back and forth, especially in episode one, [and] slightly in two, maybe. But once I got the trick, I got myself [redeemed] in the third and the fourth episodes.”
What Is Hesham Nazih’s Marvel Future?
Nazih has had a very interesting journey through the MCU thus far, and he is ready for the next step. When asked if he’d rather return forEyes of Wakandaseason 2,Moon Knightseason 2, or another project altogether, he replied with a quick“All of the above.”
“It is so much fun planting the seed and seeing it grow,”Nazih added,“It becomes a plant that you wouldn’t have imagined is going to grow this way. And then you wait until [audiences] from all around the globe witness this. It’s an incredible process.”
“I would love to do Eyes of Wakanda season two, Moon Knight season two, and all the rest of them; any possible project with Marvel.”
Nazih also mused on what locations he’d like to see a hypotheticalEyes of Wakandaseason 2 visit.“Maybe Latin America–the Incas and Maya. That could be cool, musically.”But, for the composer, the true draw is the execution.“It’s the dynamism of the story. It’s how they tell the story. That’s what’s magical about it.”
Eyes of Wakanda
Cast
Eyes of Wakanda, released in 2025, follows a group of brave Wakandan warriors known as the Hatut Zeraze. Tasked with retrieving Vibranium artifacts, they embark on dangerous missions across the globe, confronting enemies of Wakanda in their steadfast defense of the nation’s legacy and resources.
