As many of you know, I am a big fan of Marvel comics and Marvel movies. I’m the person that goes to early premiers of movies, and can discuss Marvel comics until the end of time. I was so so excited when I found out that they were making a movie adaptation of one of my favorite Marvel heroes, the Black Panther. He was introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the disastrous “Civil War” movie that came out in 2016. The movie is basically all fighting, and we didn’t really get a chance to get to know T’Challa, King of Wakanda and Black Panther. When I found out that he was going to get his own stand alone movie, I was very happy. However, I realized that Panther isn’t as much of a known hero as, say, Spider-Man, so I decided to write this to provide some history on T’Challa, as well as rave about how fantastic the movie and comics really are.
Black Panther was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1966. He was first introduced in a Fantastic Four comic, and later joined the Avengers in comics published in 1968. He got his own comic book series in 1973. Panther was the first black hero to debut in mainstream American comics. Contrary to some belief, Panther’s name had no political stance, and did not relate him to the Black Panther party, since he got his name before the groups formation. Stan Lee even changed Panther’s name to Black Leopard in 1972, and T’Challa remained the Black Leopard until the Black Panther party faded.
The Black Panther comics were unique because they show the fictional African country of Wakanda in a positive light. Wakanda is one of the richest countries in the Marvel universe, and most advanced. The people there are civilized, and highly intelligent. T’Challa’s little sister is very young, and she is the head of Wakanda’s technology department, having a higher I.Q. than Tony Stark. These developments were the first time that Africans were portrayed as intelligent humans, rather than primitive people. It created a shift in the mindset of Americans, to see a strong black hero and a great African civilization, especially in the heat of the civil rights era.
The Black Panther finally got his own movie last Friday. I went to see it, despite being very very sick that weekend, because nothing can keep me from a Marvel movie opening night. I was pleased to see that various African cultures were on display. The costuming and cinematography were stunning, portraying Wakanda It stuck true to the comics, putting a minority on screen and highlighting the beauty, grace, and sophistication found in many African cultures. Even though Wakanda is a fictional place, the dialect and costuming used were based off of real African tribes’ wardrobe and dialects. The movie had a good message of overcoming hate, and giving a positive alternative to the violence that affects people of color. It reflected the comics brilliantly.
Though we have more representation in our comics today, with heroes like Falcon and Luke Cage in the Marvel universe, Black Panther is unique because the entire cast is black, and the movie puts African culture on display in a positive light. Black Panther was groundbreaking in the 60’s, but it is still groundbreaking today, in a society that struggles to be inclusive.