Busy hero gets strong back-up

captivating hero worthy of our backing.

Another reason Black Panther works so well, though, is it feels like the heroics are shared around – and the ladies get their time to shine.

Marvel has been criticised for its lack of strong female roles, but thanks to Coogler and Cole, the studio make massive positive strides here with Danai Gurira’s bad-a** warrior Okoye, Lupita Nyong’o’s brave, more than just a love interest Nakia and Letitia Wright’s cheeky and playful, Q-like gadget queen Shuri.

Black Panther also furnishes us with some of the finest, most interesting, MCU villainy. Shooting people in the back one minute and belting out Haddaway’s 1993 hit song What Is Love the next, Andy Serkis (Ulysses Klaue) is a riot.

However, Michael B. Jordan (Killmonger) – re-teaming with Coogler for a third time – makes for one of the most fascinating, multilayered antagonists you’ll ever see in a comic book flick; oozing coolness, the Californian couldn’t be further away from his Fantastic Four flop.

Whether being challenged for his throne or jetting off to Busan for a standout, Bondinspired, casino showdowninto-car chase sequence that sees Coogler’s camera leap around with hyperspeed grace as it switches between characters, Boseman isn’t given a moment’s peace.

At one point our troubled hero is told: “It’s hard for a good man to be king.”

Thankfully Boseman’s Panther isn’t a good man – he’s a great man, who is blessed with a masterfully made movie.