Time for a black superhero
Film industry and fans eagerly anticipate next month’s arrival of Marvel’s Black Panther
Superhero fans, movie fans and connoisseurs of black culture are all eagerly awaiting the debut of Marvel’s Black Panther movie starring comic book’s first black superhero with an enthusiasm not often seen in cinema.
Black Panther viewing parties are already being scheduled for its February release, in the middle of Black History Month. There are lines of clothing based on the movie’s African style being prepared — the bright colours and Afrofuturism styles of Wakanda are in for the spring. Grammywinning rapper Kendrick Lamar will produce the soundtrack.
Hollywood observers are already calling the yet-to-be seen movie one of the most important of 2018, despite the fact that the character that has only appeared once on the silver screen and, until now, has not occupied the same pantheon as comic book stalwarts such as Superman, Batman and Spiderman.
But for some fans, none of that matters because the Black Panther holds a unique position in the superhero world.
“As the father of two little black boys I’m super excited to have a superhero that looks like them on screen,” said Glen Greezy of New York City, who, along with more than 900 of his friends on Facebook, plan to hit Times Square and see the movie together on opening weekend. “Other superheroes are great and I see their movies, too, but something about having a black man as the main character in a superhero movie is extra appealing.”
Black Panther, starring Chadwick Boseman as the eponymous superhero, opens on Feb. 16, picking up the adventures of the newly crowned African king and superhero who debuted in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War.
Existing in the same shared universe as Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America and Spiderman, the Panther, however, is African royalty and his adventures centre around his futuristic hidden homeland of Wakanda, considered to be the most technologically advanced nation on Marvel’s Earth. In the new movie, T’Challa, the Black Panther’s real name, must battle long-time adversaries with the aide of his all-female bodyguards and a CIA agent to maintain control of his country and prevent a world war.
Directed by Ryan Coogler, it also has an all-star cast including Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B. Jordan, Forest Whitaker, Danai Gurira and Sterling K. Brown.
For many people, Black Panther isn’t just a movie, it’s a symbol of change.
“Black Panther is just going to be really special,” said Daniel Kaluuya, the Get Out star who is also featured in Black Panther.
“I don’t plug into film anticipation, but I can feel it. A lot of my friends have asked me to go to the première. Everyone in my network is excited about it, and you can feel it when they’re not.”
The internet explodes each time a new trailer, poster or piece of artwork debuts from the movie, sparking hashtags such as #Black Panther So Lit and #WelcometoWakanda. Twitter said Black Panther was one of the most tweeted-about movies of 2017, and the only movie on the list that hadn’t premièred yet.
“Do we really have to wait until February?” Elwood L. Robinson, chancellor of Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, wrote on Twitter while sporting a Black Panther T-shirt.
Groups such as Malik Fraternity Inc., the first collegiate fraternity founded on the concept of African fraternalism, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Intentional Community Building Collective and Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle in Baltimore, are assembling discussion panels on the movie’s themes.
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the minds behind SpiderMan, the Fantastic Four and other Marvel comics, the Black Panther holds a unique position in comic book history. While not the first black comic book hero — the first black character to headline his own comic book was Dell Comics’ Western hero and gunfighter Lobo in 1965 — the Black Panther is considered the first black superhero, introduced as a supporting character in Fantastic Four in 1966 and later featured in his own book.
There has been a renaissance with black superheroes on television as well. Black Lightning debuts on the CW on Jan. 16 featuring an educator who gains electrical powers and becomes a superhero. Luke Cage, a television show about a former convict with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin, premièred on Netflix in 2016 and will begin a second season this year.
Cage debuted in a self-titled comic book Luke Cage, Hero for Hire in 1972 with an exaggerated Afro and a catchphrase “Sweet Christmas.” He was followed by Black Lightning in a DC comic book in 1977.
There have been other black superhero movies. Wesley Snipes starred as the vampire slayer Blade in one of the first Marvel movies, and Robert Townsend starred in a parody of superheroes in Meteor Man, but their movies did not bring out the enthusiasm that Black Panther is seeing.
Georgetown University media studies professor Christopher Chambers said: “A black superhero movie with an almost allblack cast conveys power, that we have arrived.”