‘BLACK’ POWER
‘Panther’ ready to join pantheon of Marvel superheroes
Have they finally gotten “Black Panther” right? Marvel Comics' Africaset superhero saga arrives amid waves of hype as a spin-off from the billiondollar “Avengers” universe, a stand-alone entry with a nearly all-black cast. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, totemic figures in creating Marvel Comics superheroes, debuted “Black Panther” in 1966. He stands tall as the very first African origin superhero in mainstream American comics. This movie also rates as the first black superhero movie with a black director (31-year-old Ryan Coogler) and black screenwriters (Coogler and Joe Robert Cole).
Previously presented in 2010 as an animated six episode TV miniseries, that “Panther” revised the origin story of T'Challa, aka the Black Panther, who was ruler and protector of his African nation Wakanda, hidden away from the rest of the world. It lies beneath a holographic dome to escape detection.
Chadwick Boseman, 40, now stars as a young T'Challa, returning to his kingdom to become its ruler. Boseman's T'Challa was introduced two years ago in “Captain America: Civil War” and will appear in May's newest Avengers installment, “Infinity War.”
Wakanda only seems to be a primitive village; it's Africa's most technically advanced city courtesy of an alien meteor crash that gave the citizens Vibranium, a vibration-absorbing mineral more valuable than diamonds or gold. It's spun into fibers for Panther's bulletproof suit and Captain America's shield.
Boseman is one actor definitely in his element as an iconic superhero. His credits include a trio of galvanizing pioneers: Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier in 2013's “42,” soul singer supreme James Brown (“Get On Up,” 2014) and Supreme Court justice and civil rights pioneer Thurgood Marshall in last year's “Marshall.”
The scene-stealing “Panther” villain Erik Killmonger is played with surprising relish by Michael B. Jordan — his third collaboration with Coogler following the low-budget “Fruitvale Station” (2013), the film that put them both in Hollywood's headlights, and the hit Rocky Balboa spin-off “Creed” (2015), which nabbed Sylvester Stallone another Oscar nomination.
Killmonger's partner in villainy is Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) and best actor Oscar nominee Daniel Kaluuya (“Get Out”) is T'Challa's ally W'Kabi.
But it is the women of “Black Panther” who are especially compelling. Like “Wonder Woman,” “Panther” boasts an elite female fighting force, one that is led by Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) and Okoye (Danai Gurira). And T'Challa's scene-stealing sister Shuri becomes a star-making turn for Letitia Wright.
(“Black Panther” opens Friday.)