This comic book movie year made an excellent start with Black Panther! Though technically seen a comic book movie, in many ways it doesn’t always feel like it, this movie brought a fresh new perspective on the genre. I’d say this is one of the best movies to introduce somebody to the Marvel universe, there’s a couple more self contained and very enjoyable Marvel origin stories, but this one is certainly one of their best ones!
The character appeared for the first time in Captain America: Civil War (2016), the character looke very promising back, but the movie never went very deeply into his origins, all on purpose of course. Marvel was planning on revealing Wakanda and their iconic king to the world in 2018. The movie was hyped a lot, partially because of the mainly African cast, partially because of how popular this superhero is amongst Marvel fanboys. The character appeared & disappeared from the comic book realm on occassion, though created in 1966, he was not much known till in the 90ies, that’s when he gained much popularity. It’s noteworthy how he was the very first “Black” superhero of African descent, not only that, but he also lives in Africa.
This new story brings you to the isolated country of Wakanda, where the Black panther reigns, as well as protects his people from harm. You discover a whole new part of the Marvel universe, you discover a whole new culture, you get to know a whole new bunch of very fun characters. I would say seeing this movie for the first time felt like seeing Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) for the first time. Though you expect a Comic book movie, you’re thrown into this unknown universe, not really knowing what to expect. Even if you were a comic book fanboy, you’d still get some unexpected surprises. The story itself is very original, some parts of it even feel like a fairy tale, even though it has some sci fi elements to it, it’s a very interesting mix of old and new. The characters do their job, the casting was clearly well thought. Chadwick Boseman had proven himself as Black Panther in Civil war, but here you really get to know him a bit.
Without any doubt would I recommend this movie, this certainly is one of those movies you’d better see on a big screen, it will 100% be worth the money you paid. It doesn’t really matter whether you’ve seen some of the previous Marvel movies, whether you liked them or not, I can 100% assure this is a Marvel movie like no other, it is self contained and most important of all: it is very enjoyable on so many aspects!
The very first Wakandan scene is just breathtaking and for this scene alone, it’s worth seeing it on a giant screen. You’re introduced into this new fictional country of Wakanda and it’s just unbelievable! I do notice quite a lot of the current movies have some writing problems, but it’s not the case with this one! The scenario, the way the story evolves is spot on, I don’t think I could come up with a better storyline, this is something pretty rare in this era of movies.
For those who watch The Walking dead, you’ll get to see a familiar face, as Dania Gurira is one of the main cast of this movie and she certainly doesn’t disappoint! She kicks ass probably more than her TWD role. Whether you’re a feminist or not, it’s undeniable how much the female cast contributes to why this movie is so good, there’s a lot of fun & kickass women in this movie. After you’ve seen these movies you’ll be looking forward to seeing these characters again in any future Marvel movies.
If all these arguments don’t convince you, let numbers do the talking, this movie so far has made a staggering amount at the Box office, nearly 900 million internationally, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes past the 1 Billion.