The Black Panther

The new superhero movie opening to sold out audiences already this weekend isn’t about a new superhero at all. The super character hero was created in a comic book by Marvel Comics originated in 1961 written by Jack Kirby. This superhero is called Black Panther. He is a character from Africa who is smarter than you, richer than you and who is more technologically advanced than you. Marvel’s new super hero adventure movie is all about the culture and landscape of Africa that we rarely see in blockbuster movies. It combines science fiction fantasy and fighting action from the female co-stars. It is unique in that they spent $200 million dollars to make this expensive big movie that has predominately all black actors.

This movie represents a new way Hollywood will now look at black actors and directors. The story takes place in a fictional town in Africa. After the death of his father, T’Challa returns home to the African nation of Wakanda to take his rightful place as king. When a powerful enemy suddenly reappears, T’Challa’s mettle as king and as Black Panther gets tested when he’s drawn into a conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people. I always thought that Batman should have been played by a black actor because it would have been cool to see a muscular black person wear that iconic black mask and cape in the Bat Mobile. It is nice to see a black super hero story  brought to life.

This movie shows a beautiful African landscape along with a modern metropolis. The movie has a black director and a predominately black cast. Somehow in 2018 this is considered revolutionary. Lupita Nyongo plays Nakla in the movie. Danai Gurira plays the part of Okoya. Some of the best fight scenes are done by these leading ladies in the film. Not only do these kick ass women protect themselves in the movie but they protect the men as well. The feminist struggle is not a struggle to strip men from their power but is a struggle to reach for equality. Both actresses come from Africa. Lupita is from Kenya and Danai is from Zimbabwe. They love to see their continent being celebrated for a change in the movies.  

The Black Panther hero part is played by Chadwick Boseman who didn’t even have to audition for the character of T’Challa. Chadwick Boseman is used to playing historical people in the movies. He was Jackie Robinson the famous baseball player in the movie called 42 and he was the famous singer James Brown in the movie called Hit On Up. He puts a little bit of James Brown swagger in this movie. The movie already broke the record of more advanced sales of tickets than any other super hero movie ever. There are movie goers showing up to the theaters in traditional African outfits.

The director and writer of this movie, Ryan Coogler is best known for his movies called Fruitvale Station and Creed. The immense popularity already is fueled by an audience that has never seen themselves portrayed in a movie before quite like this. The message is positive and discusses issues of racism, feminism and empowerment. Black Panther gets to decide on what kind of king he wants to be. The film is poised to make box office history currently tracking to gross more than $150 million dollars in this opening weekend. You think the movie was made intentionally black but soon you realize that it is coincidentally black showing the expected good vs. evil super hero coming to the rescue that we all want to see in this kind of movie. So, what movie will you see this weekend?