It more than convinced Marvel executives, who didn’t hesitate to award her the job and a $30 million art department budget, but more importantly, the presentation was the start of Beachler’s approximately 500-page “Black Panther” bible.
“It was a big reference point for us to come back to for when you have questions,” said Coogler, who said he returned to it this Fall as started to prep “Black Panther 2.” “It was the thing that everybody had, because visual effects, and costumes, and stunts, everybody needed it so that we could ask her questions, like when it came to casting, or when it came to building a set, or figuring out stunts or figuring out clothing.”
The new canvas of Wakanda opened up Beachler creatively, and revealed a whole other level of her talent and insight. Ideas are brought to life in details big and small, as Beachler expresses a vision in Wakanda replete with a social awareness that even the most thoughtful architects would be exhilarated by. It technologies are thrilling — from remotely operated cars and planes to magnetic levitation train systems, and more — but the connection between people is also important in its design.
“Black Panther”courtesy of The Everett Collection
It was the idealism of urban planning and Afrofuturism grounded in something tactile and real. The budget and world-building may have been on a new level, but the filmmakers’ approach to this fantasy city was remarkably similar to “Fruitvale Station” and “Creed.” “I felt like it was cemented when we did Step Town, because we talked about that standing in KwaZulu-Natal, Ladysmith [a city in South Africa],” said Beachler in describing an early scouting/research trip. “And he looked down at the ground that we were on, and he looked at me and said, ‘That’s Step Town.'”
In the middle of the modern metropolis of the Golden City was Step Town, the old city region of T’Challa’s capitol. The vibrant culture and history of the civilization comes to life in this district where Wakandans come to dine, shop, and hang out. From the street art to the architecture, Beachler transcended the CGI flatness that can sometimes plague MCU films.
And it wasn’t just work designed to come to life on screen, there was a level of detail in Beachler’s Step Town set that made it real for the cast and Coogler, not unlike when he stood on the real streets of Ladysmith. “She built all these storefronts,” marveled Coogler. “Some places where you could really cook meat and where you could really buy some tea. It was crazy stuff that we were doing.”
It was work that won Beachler an Oscar; she was not only the first Black production designer to win the award, she was the first to even be nominated in the category. She has completely shifted industry expectations, and, as a result, reinforced and reinvigorated her creative process, which should manifest in future projects.