Byline: Mariam Kouyate
Black Panther is the newest super hero to join Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). He is the first black fictional superhero in the mainstream American comic sphere. In summer 2018, T’Challa will have his own solo film headed to the big screen.
He was introduced to us in Captain America: Civil War where he is the prince of the African nation of Wakanda. American film producer and president of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige said, “T’Challa would be in the “beginning phases of taking on” the Black Panther mantle”. His appearance in Civil War is more than a cameo, giving him a full arc and character journey with “his own conflict and his own people that he’s looking out for.”
Black Panther’s journey started earlier this year, when a new Black Panther series written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and drawn by Brian Stelfreeze was launched. Marvel Comics published it on 6 April and currently it is the bestselling comic in the US. In fact, it has sold up to an estimated 253,258 copies in April. This week Comic Book Resources reported that the sales placed it ahead of the Star Wars: Poe Dameron, which sold 175,322 copies.
Ta-Nehisi Coates is an American writer, journalist and educator. He is the author of the award-winning book of polemical memoir and politics, Between the World and Me. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland to father William Paul Coates, a Vietnam War veteran, former Black Panther, publisher and librarian. The mother, Cheryl Waters was a teacher. This is a stipulation that inspires his works and more so his creation for T’Challa’s character. Coates is a national correspondent at The Atlantic where he wrote, “My version of the Black Panther pulls from the archives of Marvel and the character’s own long history. But it also pulls from the very real history of society – from the pre-colonial era of Africa, the peasant rebellions that wracked Europe toward the end of the Middle Ages, the American civil war, the Arab spring, and the rise of Isis.”
T’ Challa is a man dedicated to unraveling the truth. He has intelligence and strength, which he uses to represent his people with a breathing arraignment of all their ill-conceived claims and hate fueled oratory. This film is an interpretation on the way “western” countries exploit countries in the “developing world” for their own gains while claiming that their only stimulus is the improvement of the ‘exploited’ nation. This story immediately puts T’Challa on the pedestal against an entire system of corrupt societies. Marvel Comic fans are in for action-packed indulgence.
Next to other heroes he holds an epic pedigree. This is the rise of a prince who is not forced to be responsible because of his bloodline but because he is best suited (and trusted) to lead his people. Marvel should show that he has been trained and groomed for this role. This should be one nobility that trumps Thor’s relationship to Odin. Ken Kinyanjui who is Kenya’s sci-fiction fantasy writer says,
“Black Panther is a really cool character. It’s definitely hyped of course because it’s from Marvel, and their heroes are just epic. T’Challa is the first African hero. I’m hyped to see an advanced African nation led by one of the smartest Kings. It is not an origin story movie so I’m waiting to see the roles the character plays. Aside from being King, he’s an active diplomat who represents his country to the rest of the international community. One of Black Panther’s aliases is Mr.Okwonkwo!”
Black Panther is one of the wealthiest heroes in Marvel’s arsenal. As King of the fictional land called Wakanda, he has access to a vast collection of magical artifacts, advanced Wakandan technological and military hardware, as well as the support of his homeland’s wide range of scientists, warriors, and mystics. The Wakandan military has been described as one of the most powerful on Earth. Wakanda has ‘Vibranium’ which is the strongest metal that everyone hungers to acquire.
This hero carries a whole country of people and we should expect to see him using all his arsenal. His outfit is a Vibranium-weave suit which also happens to be what Captain America’s shield is made of. He is a skilled hunter, tracker, strategist, politician, inventor, and scientist. He has a Ph.D. in Physics from Oxford University, is considered one of the eight smartest people on the planet, is a genius in physics and advanced technology, and a dazzling inventor to boot. T’Challa is also s meticulous gymnast and acrobat. He is a master in African martial arts as well as extant martial arts. Marvel should give him a villain who will game up to such supremacy.
Actors like Lupita Nyong’o and Michael B Jordan have both been cast to join the film. Marvel has yet to announce any of its characters outside of (of course) Chadwick Boseman reprising T’Challa. A casting call list has made its way online, and among the people mentioned are two familiar faces from the Marvel Universe: Ulysses Klaue and Everett Ross. This is the most anticipated movie since the first Avengers.
