Black Panther Appreciation: Wakanda Forever!

[BlackClaw]

Well that's kinda depressing, it would be totally depressing but I'm full of beer and sushi. I'm tired of being made to feel crazy because I don't like the way a now firmly A-list character is being slowly torn down in his own title. Like seriously let's have rape going on in the X-School or Sharon Carter showing up Cap. I'd have more examples but the aforementioned fullness has me a little lethargic.

I feel your pain man. But let’s just hope he’ll be done after the galactic empire arc and that more people will call him out on his crap now that audiences worldwide are seeing a correct portrayal of Black Panther.

[FLEX HECTIC]

Marvell for the win!


Bit I still hold out for this guy as The Reverend Achebe if not Moses Magnum...

[ZeonsSilverStar]

It wont happen. C.B. is redesigning the script. So it will have Coates words but Marvel story.

Well this is honestly shocking. Kinda just assumed that Coates would have free reign more or less. Still after Black Panther I'm not sure I want to give him any of my money.

I feel your pain man. But let’s just hope he’ll be done after the galactic empire arc and that more people will call him out on his crap now that audiences worldwide are seeing a correct portrayal of Black Panther.

With any luck maybe the potential Storm solo will take him off of Black Panther, I can't see him writing three titles. But at the he seems to have gained quite a following, mostly from first time Black Panther readers but there have also been long time time fans. Anyway only time will tell.

[Ezyo1000]

Yep. Based off of the holds and estimates, the film will cross 500m domestic and 850mWW by the end of this weekend with a decent chance of crossing 900mWW by the time it opens in China on 03/09.

It'll definitely hit 900 Milly before it opens in China for sure m China numbers will simply put it above Cap CW and IM3

[Ezyo1000]

Well this is honestly shocking. Kinda just assumed that Coates would have free reign more or less. Still after Black Panther I'm not sure I want to give him any of my money.



With any luck maybe the potential Storm solo will take him off of Black Panther, I can't see him writing three titles. But at the he seems to have gained quite a following, mostly from first time Black Panther readers but there have also been long time time fans. Anyway only time will tell.

Thing is really Evan Narcisse needs to be put on ad the New BP writer. Dude knows his BP knowledge snf comes correct. Rise of the Black panther so far had Been a great read. In fact Rise is the spin off we should of gotten when Coates first started instead of the failed World of Wakanda. Had Rise bee. The first spin off rather the. The 4th the Numbers would of been high enough to make it an ongoing (still has the potential to be one now. It's ,#1 was 40k so if it drops minor and can stabilize quickly it can keep going) or he can move on to the main title. Though I would prefer he stays ob rise ad a 2nd ongoing abd we get Redjack to do the main series

[Cville]

Well this is honestly shocking. Kinda just assumed that Coates would have free reign more or less. Still after Black Panther I'm not sure I want to give him any of my money.



With any luck maybe the potential Storm solo will take him off of Black Panther, I can't see him writing three titles. But at the he seems to have gained quite a following, mostly from first time Black Panther readers but there have also been long time time fans. Anyway only time will tell.

This is also preemptive ass covering. If it bombs and fans hate it he can fall back on C.B. making changes from his original idea. Why else would you say it in an interview. lol

[Moose100]

This seems like a great time to push The Ultimates back out there.

Black Panther is playing like a heavyweight. Captain Marvel is about to take off likely with Spectrum in tow. America is about to be in a show. Now we just need a little love for Adam.

And of course, BP taking the lead.

I feel like the mcu is working towards the Ewing version of the ultimates

[4sake Baned]

Interesting to see the perspective of someone who is a non-black PoC.

As for the second article... I mean, I get the point she's going for... But like... should the film have had zero white actors unless they're villains? Personally, I wanted MORE Ross, but understanding what the cultural significance of the movie is, I understand why they didn't. Likely the same reason there was zero Jessica Jones in Luke Cage. Disappointing, but I get it.

Interestingly, she points out that T'Challa is on the defense most of the time. Maybe that's why I liked the first part of the movie so much - as she said, it was him being quite active.

Yes........

[Pulp Fiction]

I feel your pain man. But let’s just hope he’ll be done after the galactic empire arc and that more people will call him out on his crap now that audiences worldwide are seeing a correct portrayal of Black Panther.

How can you call the MCU version a "correct portrayal" with a straight face?

[Pulp Fiction]

Somewhat random, but the Marvel Legends Infinity War Wave 2 was revealed today and the Build-A-Figure (for those unfamiliar, the line comes with a piece of a figure with most of the figures in the wave that you combine into a new character) is Cull Obsidian aka Black Dwarf. So for those who have been longing to get that Black Panther vs. Black Dwarf battle on the page you can finally make it happen.

http://marveltoynews.com/marvel-lege...-obsidian-baf/

They're gonna give black dwarf to the hulk.

[chamber-music]

Boyega getting into the MCU is looking highly likely in my eyes. He showed nothing but love for Black Panther before it’s release and if he’s not playing a rebooted Blade I can easily see him playing Vibraxis. And he’s not my first choice for Achebe (that’s Denzel Washington) but then again MBJ wasn’t my first choice for Killmonger but he ended up being great. So maybe Boyega could pull it off.

Boyega is a big comic book fan in general so it is only a matter of time until he lands a role in something. It would be interesting to see him play a villain

[BBeeryan]

I think people who think T'Challa was outshinned in this movie or think he had no agency need to give the movie another watch. When a lot of critics and other people say this isn't your standard MCU movie, they really mean it. Not just in how it looks and sounds (the cinematography and score are probably the best the MCU has to offer), but in the kind of story it tells and especially with T'Challa's character. To think T'Challa is simply reacting to things and has no agency I think is completely false

This movie's central theme is about balance. The balance between tradition and innovation. Wakanda in many ways is that balance, from their architecture, their technology, aesthetics. Their country is essentially highly advanced, yet their culture has been untouched and is very traditional (such as how they choose their king through ritual combat). Many characters in this film symbolise tradition and innovation, with some being moderate and some being extreme. For instance, M'Baku is extreme traditionalism while Okoye is moderate traditionalism. Shuri is extreme innovation and Nakia is moderate innovation.

T'Challa's arc in this film is about finding that balance, deciding the kind of king he wants to be (and not what others expect him to), and realising and accepting that his father is not the perfect man in his eyes that he was. I'm not sure how other people didn't realise it, but I noticed it on first watch. T'Challa rise to the throne is signified and symbolised by defeating M'Baku, the agent of extreme traditionalism (as the sun rises). When T'Challa sees T'Chaka in the Ancestral Plane for the first time, he falls to his knees overcome with emotion and says he's not ready to be without him (if anyone thinks this is honestly a problem, remember his father literally just died a week ago), and also asks him how best should he lead Wakanda. He still has that perfect image of his father (if I'm correct, it's in the Ancestral Plane visit that we see some quick flashback shots of both young and old T'Chaka touching T'Challa's face). But look at the actual Ancestral Plane, though: This one is dark almost like a night sky, to show that T'Challa is still in the dark about his father's actions.

I really can't complain about T'Challa losing to Killmonger at all. It's a necessary part of his arc. Killmonger is the face of extremely negative innovation and Westernisation, and he has to succumb too that a little to bit too, to discover what he wants by loosing to Killmonger (as the sun sets). Again the moments before this show T'Challa learning and making decisions by himself, and also trying to be like his father. His very first instinct is to be just like T'Chaka ("Take him away.") It's only when Erik announces himself in front of everyone that he accepts his challenge. Now as for the fight, at first I thought it was a bad fight through and through, but watch it again. T'Challa as distracted as he was had more than one clear opportunity to kill Erik. He chose not two because he knew who he was and again this is a T'Challa deciding to be his own person and not what is expected of him. That is the very definition of having agency. It's a mistake that he makes, yes, which cost him the throne and almost his life. But nonetheless he was distracted and for very good reasons. His perfect image of his father had started to crack, and spoilers:

Zuri had been killed in front of his very eyes

end of spoilers. Some more information and clips of how skilled Killmonger was might have really drove home just how good he was, but I think the film does a good enough job at both showing that Killmonger is a talented fighter without downplaying T'Challa's abilities at all. For Bast's sake, T'Challa along the side of a freaking wall in this film. He leaps more than 20 feet in a single bound in this film. He accurately plans out an attack on the Nigerian traffickers and executes it, throwing the EMP beads at their cars perfectly. He's the only one showing to not struggle a little during the Busan casino fight, survives and doesn't seem hurt at all by Klaw's sound cannon (which could wreck a car completely), takes out three cars (including the one with Klaw in it) during the chase scene while Okoye took out only one or two (I think it was just one). He was the only one who could take out Killmonger. Okoye and the Doras couldn't. Nakia and Shuri couldn't. T'Challa's the one that did it and he used his both his skills and his brain to do it, hence showing that ultimately after dealing with his own internal conflict he was better than Killmonger.

I also don't agree that T'Challa feels dumbed down or incompetent in the film either. Yes, I too was bothered about making Shuri a genius but Shuri has a clear belief that just sets her thinking aside from T'Challa: She believes a piece of technology can always be improved. That doesn't mean that T'Challa somehow is not smart or that she is even smarter than him. He designed his own suit and jet. He immediately starts understanding how to use his suit once Shuri tells him about it. He also understands without anyone telling him that the Mag-Lev train will affect both his and Killmonger's suit and that will be the way to defeat him (Killmonger even compliments him on the move).

But back to T'Challa's arc, he is able to understand the truth about who his father really was, accept that T'Chaka wasn't perfect and that he made mistakes, and that he will be a better king and man than T'Chaka was. What I discovered from this film (and considering Civil War) is that T'Chaka taught T'Challa how to be both a warrior, a king and a good man, but T'Challa learned how to be a warrior the best while still being a good man (who could spare Zemo and grant Bucky asylum for instance). I think that's why T'Challa gravitated towards the role of Black Panther very early, and even when he became king he still had the mentality of a warrior, such as hunting down Bucky for vengeance and going after Klaue (remember one of his councilwomen said Wakanda needs a king now and not a warrior). It's at the very end of this film that T'Challa finds out and truly understands that being a good person is more important, and that being a king is not about having power, doing what is expected of you or honouring tradition, but by striving to improve your society, correcting the wrongs of your forefathers, and improving the world around you if you can. T'Chaka was like this as well, but it seems he had learnt this valuable lesson when it was too late and during his last moments. T'Challa has learnt this lesson early enough and with that, is already a better king and man than his father (which ties into another theme of the movie -- wanting the next generation to be better -- and is a common culture with African societies). And to me, that is one of the most satisfying and unique arcs in any superhero movie, and that makes T'Challa one of the most inspirational characters in the MCU. His character has the most growth in the entire film, so I can't really see how Killmonger for instance was given the most by Coogler. Sure, Coogler obviously related to Killmonger by making him 'from' Oakland, but he makes it very clear that Killmonger while having righteous intentions, was full of hate and that what he wanted to do was wrong. T'Challa is clearly the noble man at the end of the film, even though Killmonger's political view at the basic level is also correct. I mean, am I the only one who saw some similarities between Killmonger and the current POTUS. He only adheres to rules and tradition when it benefits, such as when he wears the tribal mask because he's "just feelin' it", scars his body for self motivation and stroking his own ego, and challenges T'Challa just so he can kill him and get the throne. Notice how when he came into power all of that went out the window, by trying to change Wakanda isolationist view and waging war on the rest of the world, and also refusing to continue the challenge because T'Challa neither yielded or died. Killmonger also appealed to the vengeful and worse nature of the Wakandans such as W'Kabi, and ultimately sets off a civil war.

At my showing, the audience was really feeling T'Challa far more than Killmonger. There was quite some talking during the film, and I don't think a lot of people were really moved by Killmonger. Yes, his last line is great and all, but I think a lot of people relate to it and to him because they're Americans. T'Challa is less relatable in that sense because he's African and his thing is more about isolationism and anti-colonialism, which I think most Americans obviously can't relate to. A lot more people, including my friends I saw it with and someone I sat next to ended up really rooting for and liking T'Challa because we could all see his arc in the film, and Chadwick Boseman shows the most range in the entire film. Not many origin stories show that well rounded of a character and I really do not think Coogler did the character an injustice. Having that good of a supporting cast is something many superhero movies do not have and most of us aren't used to it, so we think of it as stealing the spotlight. But to me, unlike Coates' T'Challa, this version knows what he wants to be, does end up figuring it out, is competent and knows how to handle himself (something none of the other MCU heroes start of as in the beginning of their origins). In my opinion Coogler found the right balance between making changes for an adaptation whilst remaining faithful to the source material.

Sorry this is a very long post.

Omg yes!!! And don't you dare apologize for this post.

[Pulp Fiction]

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertai...akanda/554474/

Look at this. Making T'Challa look as bad as possible was part of the plan apparently. For those saying it isn't a coates inspired take. It's actually worse.

"I actually am the enemy,” Boseman said of his character in a wide-ranging discussion with his Black Panther castmate Lupita Nyong’o and The Atlantic’s national correspondent Ta-Nehisi Coates at Harlem’s historic Apollo Theater on Tuesday. “It’s the enemy I’ve always known. It’s power. It’s having privilege.” Recognizing T’Challa’s limitations as a character, and understanding the personal and philosophical evolutions he goes through in battling Erik, were crucial to the final arc of the film, Boseman said.

Boseman pointed to Ryan Coogler, Black Panther’s director (Joe Robert Cole co-wrote the script with him), as the man behind Killmonger’s complicated characterization. “He’s an African American and therefore trying to find a connection to his roots in Africa,” he said. “You see that search in the movie. There’s a bit of Ryan in Killmonger, and I feel the same way.” As king of Wakanda, T’Challa is a particularly potent symbol of idealism for a liberated, technologically advanced African nation that was never conquered. But as meaningful as that symbol is, Coogler knows it’s also something that might provoke feelings of alienation or even resentment in the audience.

T’Challa was “born with a vibranium spoon in [his] mouth,” Boseman said, jokingly referring to the fictional rare metal that gives Wakanda its advanced technology and powers the superhero suit of the Black Panther. “Killmonger is trying to achieve greatness … but there’s an expectation of greatness for me,” Boseman continued. “I don’t know if we as African Americans would accept T’Challa as our hero if he didn’t go through Killmonger. Because Killmonger has been through our struggle, and I [as T’Challa] haven’t.”

How you feel about the movie now?

[Marvell2100]

Thing is really Evan Narcisse needs to be put on ad the New BP writer. Dude knows his BP knowledge snf comes correct. Rise of the Black panther so far had Been a great read. In fact Rise is the spin off we should of gotten when Coates first started instead of the failed World of Wakanda. Had Rise bee. The first spin off rather the. The 4th the Numbers would of been high enough to make it an ongoing (still has the potential to be one now. It's ,#1 was 40k so if it drops minor and can stabilize quickly it can keep going) or he can move on to the main title. Though I would prefer he stays ob rise ad a 2nd ongoing abd we get Redjack to do the main series

I hope that they can spin a second title with Narcisse. At least extend this mini to see if it has legs.

[Marvell2100]

Marvell for the win!


Bit I still hold out for this guy as The Reverend Achebe if not Moses Magnum...

He does look like Achebe.

Coogler: Hey John, sorry man I got Achebe's half brother on the other line. He's willing to negotiate for the role.

Boyega: Damn! And you said he looks just like Achebe?

Coogler: He's his identical twin.

Boyega: Frak mayne! Is there anything else you can do?

Coogler: Well, there is a role that I've been saving...have you ever heard of Backhand Barry?