Black Panther Appreciation 2019

[MindofShadow]

"That amazing line, that he [Coogler] and his co-writer, Joe Robert Cole, wrote for Killmonger as he lay dying outside the vibranium mines looking over Wakanda. T'Challa says, 'I can try to heal you,' and he says, 'Why, so you can lock me up? Just bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped ships, 'cause they knew death was better than bondage.' That was in the first draft. It was one of the best lines we ever read. We said, 'There are going to be a lot of revisions, but don't touch that line.' And Ryan said, 'That's the line I thought you'd tell me to cut.' And we said, 'On the contrary, keep it and build more of the movie around it.'"

Haha.

Coogler/Cole thought for sure the higher ups (white) would cut that line in a heartbeat and instead Kevin loved it.

[Rumble]

Knowing Hickman, he probably just had the Phoenix Egg Cyclops sub plot randomly pop up just to show how awesome Doom was when he snapped his neck.

This is a fair point. lol

Emma (or if Xavier wasn't sacrificed in AvX) completely changes the plot of the book in regards to black swan though. Instead of using that machine to look into the past/future and realized she was nuts, they would have ripped the information from her brain telepathically instead lol

If Emma was used, I think black swan becomes completely revamped in appearance, demeanor, and history. Or they go the cheap route and just make her memories a broken mess that Emma can't sort through, leaving it up to the future/past machine for the big plot twist.

Remember, all that swans and priests stuff was just confusing mumbo jumbo anyway, used to d-ride Doom (surprise surprise) and Dr Strange. Pretty much a misdirect

[Rumble]

Haha.

Coogler/Cole thought for sure the higher ups (white) would cut that line in a heartbeat and instead Kevin loved it.

Feige = GOAT hollywood white man higher up

[Ezyo1000]

He's one of my choices for the villain in the sequel.


Thor murdered him on his own sh*t

Which in some ways is understandable and other ways isnt.

Also where were the Rhinos and other Wakandan weapons that could held their own a bit more.

"If we let refugees in they bring they're problems with them. Then Wakanda is just like everywhere else"

If W'Kabi survived the snap I'm sure he was sitting up in jail like

Well Thor had a IG level thanos busting weapon and the focus wasn't on Tchalla or Wakanda given they didn't know how successful BP was going to be. Otherwise I think that battle would of gone way differently

As for the other tech I see it as studios think big battles should be giant melee feats because visually it looks cooler to them, rather then what would of been more realistic which would of been the aircrafts carpet bombing the isht out of the out riders then letting a few in (to keep then in one spot) and carpet bombing them as well

[MindofShadow]

Feige = GOAT hollywood white man higher up

If he gets Mordo a legendary villain or saves Voodoo from sidekick land, he might be invited to the cookout

BP only makes up for what happened to poor Rhodey

[Rumble]

^^This is true! But this is hollywood we talking about! Coming up with GOAT hollywood white man higher up is like a nomination for tallest midge- er, small person .

[Klaue's Mixtape]

If he gets Mordo a legendary villain or saves Voodoo from sidekick land, he might be invited to the cookout

BP only makes up for what happened to poor Rhodey

I sometimes wonder if Rhodey is a studio mess up or Cheadle (still love him as an actor. In fact a young Cheadle would have been a GREAT Achebe) just lost interest in the part.

Can't believe I'm saying this but I think Rhodey would have evolved into a better character with Howard.

[rpmaluki]

I sometimes wonder if Rhodey is a studio mess up or Cheadle (still love him as an actor. In fact a young Cheadle would have been a GREAT Achebe) just lost interest in the part.

Can't believe I'm saying this but I think Rhodey would have evolved into a better character with Howard.

I hate saying this but I still prefer Howard.

[rpmaluki]

Haha.

Coogler/Cole thought for sure the higher ups (white) would cut that line in a heartbeat and instead Kevin loved it.

Colour me shocked that they in fact liked that line. It was quite powerful.

[MindofShadow]

I sometimes wonder if Rhodey is a studio mess up or Cheadle (still love him as an actor. In fact a young Cheadle would have been a GREAT Achebe) just lost interest in the part.

Can't believe I'm saying this but I think Rhodey would have evolved into a better character with Howard.

They never found his niche so instead he was relegated being taken over every movie and comedy relief.

So not only did he have an inferior armor, inferior intelligence... he was also inferior comedy relief to RDJ.

To get back on topic, outside of the climax of IM2, Rhodey's best appearance was IW "make banner bow" lol

[Ezyo1000]

This is a fair point. lol



If Emma was used, I think black swan becomes completely revamped in appearance, demeanor, and history. Or they go the cheap route and just make her memories a broken mess that Emma can't sort through, leaving it up to the future/past machine for the big plot twist.

Remember, all that swans and priests stuff was just confusing mumbo jumbo anyway, used to d-ride Doom (surprise surprise) and Dr Strange. Pretty much a misdirect

I mean it was clear Hickman had no use for beast because homie literally did Jack **** the entire time, got one shot by the GS with Reed, and made that comment that they were spying on said group. Though that fight would of been pretty interesting with the other two added

[Ezyo1000]

I hate saying this but I still prefer Howard.

Cheadle was turned onto Tony light, Howard had a certain swagger that complimented RDJ nicely. Cheadle unfortunately, though a great actor, was given the short end of the stick

[MindofShadow]

I mean it was clear Hickman had no use for beast because homie literally did Jack **** the entire time, got one shot by the GS with Reed, and made that comment that they were spying on said group. Though that fight would of been pretty interesting with the other two added

He had to think of someone that it would make sense to have a stone while at the same time could be a background character.

The people he wanted to drive his story were taken, so he just picked a wallpaper instead.

The machine is all Hickman cares about. You can plug Beast into the machine without the trajectory changing.

Kinda like how Maximus ended up in the group. It makes no GD sense the Maximus should be anywhere near any of that stuff. What could go wrong introducing a bad guy lunatic with telepathic powers around bombs and prisoners and leaving him there by himself lol. But Hickman needed a way to get the Cabal out of Necropolis so he throws him in there because it moves the machine forward.

You know what would have made more sense for the story that Beast? Storm. Xavier would have trusted storm. But, it also fits the character that Storm want no part of it that so she gave the stone to T'challa to hide. BOOM. No extra characters and also explains why T'challa would invite the illuminati in because he used his stone to find the others.

Makes a lot more sense bringing Namor in if he had to to form the gauntlet.

[MichaelC]

Cheadle was turned onto Tony light, Howard had a certain swagger that complimented RDJ nicely. Cheadle unfortunately, though a great actor, was given the short end of the stick

I think Rhodey getting shoved to the side was more about the rise of Pepper than the change of actors. Initially, Rhodey and Pepper shared the role of long-suffering everyman type to contrast Stark's nutty professor. Pepper, though, eventually got that role completely because she could combine it with the love-interest.

Of course, this became even worse once Spider-Man came on board, since Spider-Man could fill the role of beleaguered everyman, metaphorical son, and all while being immensely popular in his own right. The result was to partially push even Pepper out, and to completely crush Rhodey out of what few crumbs he had left.

I don't think any of those things would be less true if Rhodey had a different actor.

[Mike_Murdock]

So I said I was going to review the Peter Gillis Black Panther miniseries this week. This is issue one:

Black Panther Vol. 2 #1 - Cry, the Accursed Country!



This miniseries begins with something very clearly inspired by Don McGregor - the Black Panther wrestling a Rhinoceros. In the background, two Black Panthers creep out of the Jungle. Considering one hasn't been seen in the real world in 100 years, two must be an incredible sight. Meanwhile, in racist shithole Azania, white police officers beat a black man who cries out a prayer to the Panther. These two events seem related as the panthers surprisingly attack T'Challa and the man turns into some kind of cat beast. The Black Panther defeats the cats through his superior fighting skills and sleep gas deployed from his gloves. That being said, T'Challa wonders why the "totems of his office" attacked him and why he wasn't as effective in battle.

In Wakanda, people begin to whisper about T'Challa. About how he is too western. How he fights for others more than for them. They wonder if the Panther spirit has left him. Likewise, news of a cat monster attacking in Azania spreads and foreign dignitaries wonder if this was the Black Panther. T'Challa knows it wasn't him, but also recognizes that his efforts at diplomacy in Azania have failed and either he will have to support a revolt that will likely fail (and result in thousands of deaths) or look like he has abandoned them. It's also possible the decision has been taken out of his hands as Azania is already in the throws of revolution where people are convinced the black panther is on their side. T'Challa's words on this please nobody. He essentially says that this apartheid regime is evil, but the violence against it isn't helping.

T'Challa turns to Medinao for his views. Medinao tells him that the panther god might have left him and that he needs to undergo the ordeal of the white ape. He climbs the mountain and easily plucks the leaf he needs. Then he sees the White Ape who picks him up, they struggle, and T'Challa essentially dives off the side of the mountain. He runs and makes it to safety only to discover that his supporters had been secretly using technology to weaken the White Apes in order for T'Challa to survive. Given this, the ritual is in doubt and T'Challa is to face trial over his fitness to rule.

Random thoughts:
* The knockout gas might be the first technological use of his panther costume.
* T'Challa has green cat eyes throughout this issue. Was that a thing?
* This issue has well-worn themes about the people in Wakanda distrusting T'Challa's fitness to rule, as well as technology vs. tradition. There are two main differences, though.
* The first is Azania, which is a blatant South Africa metaphor. That being said, I like that, because it's close to Wakanda, it might share in some of the same traditions. I like that they might pray to the Panther god for help and that the god might answer (for purposes of this, I'm going to use "god" generically because that's what the story uses, rather than Bast).
* Interestingly, the cat monster is attacking people who hate but support the state. The first is a governor who has been trying to reform the system from within with no apparent success. The second is a middle class bureaucrat who evicted some non-whites because, to do otherwise would cost him his job, but hated to do it. I suppose the message is perpetuating the system is being a part of it regardless of intent.
* The other main difference is the explicit focus on the Panther god. We've seen the Lion god before and the White Ape seems to be just based on a real terrifying animal, but this is the first time the Wakandan god is seen as having supernatural powers. They also expand on Wakandan religion. Apparently, each day, the White Ape kills the Black Panther only for the Panther to be reborn the next day. It's not much to go on and I feel like the Panther/White Ape dynamic has taken a backseat since Bast arrived on the scene, but it's worth noting.

Overall, it's a good start. I remember being hesitant to see the explicit supernatural parts of the story the first time but it drives the conflict in a way that is quite good. I like the idea of another avatar of Bast acting because T'Challa would not.