Writer's Circle: How would YOU write Marvel's Black Panther movie? UPDATE:What about the sequel?
- Thread starter playahaitian
- Start date
Avengers Infinity War Black Panther 2...
Bigger & Blacker
* Wakanda Forever....
By attacking and killing lots and lots of......white people. Kinda like how they did the Africans over the years. And whatnot
The Dissolution of the Marvel Creative Committee Has Led to Bolder, More Ambitious MCU Films
BY ADAM CHITWOOD MAY 3, 2018
SHARE TWEET
Spoilers ahead for all Marvel movies through Infinity War.
From the very beginning, Marvel Studios films have taken ambitious leaps. From the very first Marvel Studios movie, Iron Man, they were bucking convention—that film ends with Tony Stark exposing himself as Iron Man, thus doing away completely with the “secret identities” that proved a cornerstone of successful superhero movies like Spider-Man and Batman Begins. And of course The Avengers was an entire movie built around the bold decision to bring together different characters from different films into the same movie in a way that felt cohesive and yet true to the various characters’ nature.
But recently, Marvel Studios has gotten even more ambitious with its choices, and there’s a very good reason for that: the dissolution of the Marvel Creative Committee. The Marvel Creative Committee was a group of individuals who would give notes on Marvel Studios productions throughout the development process. As reported by Birth.Movies.Death, this committee partially consisted of Marvel Comics writer Brian Michael Bendis, former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, Marvel Comics publisher Dan Buckley, and president of Marvel Entertainment Alan Fine.
Image via Marvel Studios
While in theory this committee seems like a great sounding board, in practice it served as a continual source of frustration for the filmmakers involved with Marvel Studios movies. Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker James Gunn said they suggestedhis film ditch its 70s-infused soundtrack. Gunn also said the creative committee’s notes negatively impacted the “messy plot villain stuff” related to Ronan in the first Guardians. The creative committee’s notes were also a source of frustration for filmmaker Edgar Wright, and are reportedly a major reason he decided to depart Ant-Man before production began.
The Marvel Creative Committee also served as a roadblock of sorts during the development process, limiting the direct access filmmakers had to a yes or no answer from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, and indeed the dissolution of the Marvel Creative Committee in 2015 was a direct result of Feige’s major executive shakeups regarding the Marvel Studios structure.
In August of 2015, Feige successfully managed to reorganize the structure at Marvel Studios so that he was no longer reporting to Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter, who served as a roadblock for years. Perlmutter comes from the toy world, and as an example of the authority he wielded, is the reason there were few Black Widow toys—Perlmutter argued that girl toys do not sell. Under the original structure, Feige had to get some major decisions OK’d by Perlmutter before moving ahead, and the two reportedly butted heads quite often.
Image via Sony Pictures
But in 2015, fresh off the massive success of Guardians of the Galaxyand Avengers: Age of Ultron and after venting his frustrations to the Disney higher ups, Feige’s structure was reorganized so that Perlmutter no longer had control over Marvel Studios—i.e. the film side of Marvel. Instead, Feige would report directly to Disney studio chief Alan Horn. With this change, and with Marvel Studios now under greater control from Feige, the Marvel Creative Committee was dissolved.
And here we see a cause and effect. By the time the Marvel Creative Committee was dissolved Captain America: Civil War had already been shot and Doctor Strange was deep into pre-production, but the next four films out of the pipeline would be developed, written, shot, and edited without any sort of input from the Marvel Creative Committee. And it’s no surprise that those four films happen to be the boldest Marvel has ever made.
It begins with Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, a sequel to a massively popular film that’s essentially a hangout movie with no plot. Then we have Spider-Man: Homecoming, which saw Marvel Studios partnering up with Sony Pictures in a deal that gave Marvel exactly zero percentage of the box office. And then Thor: Ragnarok, which radically changes the character of Thor into more of a comedy lead with an entire film that takes very little of anything seriously. Obviously after that you have Black Panther, Marvel’s most explicitly political film to date and one with very strong thematic ties to the socio-political world we live in today. And finally Avengers: Infinity War, a major CG-filled blockbuster movie that concludes with the death of half the universe’s population, including many favorite MCU characters.
Image via Marvel Studios
All of these movies break the rules of what a superhero blockbuster is supposed to be. You’re supposed to have a strong MacGuffin and easy-to-follow plot, whereas Guardians 2 is happy meandering and digging deep into characters. You’re supposed to look out for your own interests as a studio, not partner up with a rival and take no profits on Spider-Man: Homecoming. You’re supposed to have consistency of character across sequels, not essentially reboot your protagonist with a wildly different tone in Thor 3. You’re definitely not supposed to be political, instead attempting to appeal to the widest possible audience—something Black Panther absolutely eschews. And you’re supposed to leave your audience at the end of your major blockbuster feeling happy and satisfied, not emotionally distraught.
And yet, Feige believed in the visions that Gunn, Jon Watts, Taika Waititi, Ryan Coogler, and Joe and Anthony Russo had for these Marvel Studios movies, and he saw them through to the end. It’s reasonable to assume if that Marvel Creative Committee had been in place, perhaps some of the edges of these films would have been softened. Maybe even Ryan Coogler would have walked away from Black Panther. Indeed, it should be noted that Ava DuVernay was first offered the chance to direct Black Panther when the Marvel Creative Committee was still in existence, and she later said she opted not to direct the film because she realized it would lack her own specificity of vision.
Image via Marvel Studios
Even Infinity War, which by and large is a pretty standard explosion-filled superhero movie, ends in a really bold way: by killing off a large portion of its cast. Obviously some (all?) of this will be undone, but Infinity War still ends on an incredibly depressing note, without the flashy font that usually graces the screen as the credits roll. Whatever you think about that ending or the film as a whole, that’s a bold choice for one of the most anticipated blockbusters of the year.
So all of this to say, while Marvel certainly found success in its first 10 years, it really does feel like they’re hitting another gear right now. They’re not content to play it safe, and with the Creative Committee gone, they’re swinging for the fences and not looking back.
BY ADAM CHITWOOD MAY 3, 2018
SHARE TWEET
Spoilers ahead for all Marvel movies through Infinity War.
From the very beginning, Marvel Studios films have taken ambitious leaps. From the very first Marvel Studios movie, Iron Man, they were bucking convention—that film ends with Tony Stark exposing himself as Iron Man, thus doing away completely with the “secret identities” that proved a cornerstone of successful superhero movies like Spider-Man and Batman Begins. And of course The Avengers was an entire movie built around the bold decision to bring together different characters from different films into the same movie in a way that felt cohesive and yet true to the various characters’ nature.
But recently, Marvel Studios has gotten even more ambitious with its choices, and there’s a very good reason for that: the dissolution of the Marvel Creative Committee. The Marvel Creative Committee was a group of individuals who would give notes on Marvel Studios productions throughout the development process. As reported by Birth.Movies.Death, this committee partially consisted of Marvel Comics writer Brian Michael Bendis, former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, Marvel Comics publisher Dan Buckley, and president of Marvel Entertainment Alan Fine.
Image via Marvel Studios
While in theory this committee seems like a great sounding board, in practice it served as a continual source of frustration for the filmmakers involved with Marvel Studios movies. Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker James Gunn said they suggestedhis film ditch its 70s-infused soundtrack. Gunn also said the creative committee’s notes negatively impacted the “messy plot villain stuff” related to Ronan in the first Guardians. The creative committee’s notes were also a source of frustration for filmmaker Edgar Wright, and are reportedly a major reason he decided to depart Ant-Man before production began.
The Marvel Creative Committee also served as a roadblock of sorts during the development process, limiting the direct access filmmakers had to a yes or no answer from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, and indeed the dissolution of the Marvel Creative Committee in 2015 was a direct result of Feige’s major executive shakeups regarding the Marvel Studios structure.
In August of 2015, Feige successfully managed to reorganize the structure at Marvel Studios so that he was no longer reporting to Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter, who served as a roadblock for years. Perlmutter comes from the toy world, and as an example of the authority he wielded, is the reason there were few Black Widow toys—Perlmutter argued that girl toys do not sell. Under the original structure, Feige had to get some major decisions OK’d by Perlmutter before moving ahead, and the two reportedly butted heads quite often.
Image via Sony Pictures
But in 2015, fresh off the massive success of Guardians of the Galaxyand Avengers: Age of Ultron and after venting his frustrations to the Disney higher ups, Feige’s structure was reorganized so that Perlmutter no longer had control over Marvel Studios—i.e. the film side of Marvel. Instead, Feige would report directly to Disney studio chief Alan Horn. With this change, and with Marvel Studios now under greater control from Feige, the Marvel Creative Committee was dissolved.
And here we see a cause and effect. By the time the Marvel Creative Committee was dissolved Captain America: Civil War had already been shot and Doctor Strange was deep into pre-production, but the next four films out of the pipeline would be developed, written, shot, and edited without any sort of input from the Marvel Creative Committee. And it’s no surprise that those four films happen to be the boldest Marvel has ever made.
It begins with Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, a sequel to a massively popular film that’s essentially a hangout movie with no plot. Then we have Spider-Man: Homecoming, which saw Marvel Studios partnering up with Sony Pictures in a deal that gave Marvel exactly zero percentage of the box office. And then Thor: Ragnarok, which radically changes the character of Thor into more of a comedy lead with an entire film that takes very little of anything seriously. Obviously after that you have Black Panther, Marvel’s most explicitly political film to date and one with very strong thematic ties to the socio-political world we live in today. And finally Avengers: Infinity War, a major CG-filled blockbuster movie that concludes with the death of half the universe’s population, including many favorite MCU characters.
Image via Marvel Studios
All of these movies break the rules of what a superhero blockbuster is supposed to be. You’re supposed to have a strong MacGuffin and easy-to-follow plot, whereas Guardians 2 is happy meandering and digging deep into characters. You’re supposed to look out for your own interests as a studio, not partner up with a rival and take no profits on Spider-Man: Homecoming. You’re supposed to have consistency of character across sequels, not essentially reboot your protagonist with a wildly different tone in Thor 3. You’re definitely not supposed to be political, instead attempting to appeal to the widest possible audience—something Black Panther absolutely eschews. And you’re supposed to leave your audience at the end of your major blockbuster feeling happy and satisfied, not emotionally distraught.
And yet, Feige believed in the visions that Gunn, Jon Watts, Taika Waititi, Ryan Coogler, and Joe and Anthony Russo had for these Marvel Studios movies, and he saw them through to the end. It’s reasonable to assume if that Marvel Creative Committee had been in place, perhaps some of the edges of these films would have been softened. Maybe even Ryan Coogler would have walked away from Black Panther. Indeed, it should be noted that Ava DuVernay was first offered the chance to direct Black Panther when the Marvel Creative Committee was still in existence, and she later said she opted not to direct the film because she realized it would lack her own specificity of vision.
Image via Marvel Studios
Even Infinity War, which by and large is a pretty standard explosion-filled superhero movie, ends in a really bold way: by killing off a large portion of its cast. Obviously some (all?) of this will be undone, but Infinity War still ends on an incredibly depressing note, without the flashy font that usually graces the screen as the credits roll. Whatever you think about that ending or the film as a whole, that’s a bold choice for one of the most anticipated blockbusters of the year.
So all of this to say, while Marvel certainly found success in its first 10 years, it really does feel like they’re hitting another gear right now. They’re not content to play it safe, and with the Creative Committee gone, they’re swinging for the fences and not looking back.
Black Panther: Every Reveal Marvel Made On The Blu-ray
The Black Panther home video release comes equipped with plenty of behind-the-scenes content and featurettes that reveal much more about the film, its characters, its story, and how it all came together after being stuck in development hell for 24 years. Considering just how well Black Panther performed - both critically and commercially - it seems that all the time spent developing the movie was well worth it.
While the creative team behind Black Panther managed to deliver a solid superhero movie that was different and fun for audiences at the same time, there's much more to the film that moviegoers might have initially overlooked. Several of the featurettes, as well as audio commentary from director Ryan Coogler and production designer Hannah Beachler, shed some light on the making of Black Panther, including various other details.
RELATED: BLACK PANTHER’S SUCCESS HURTS AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR’S FINAL ACT
BLACK PANTHER PROLOGUE ALMOST WASN'T INCLUDED
The history of Wakanda and the Black Panther plays an integral role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it's a lot to introduce to audiences without wasting too much time. So, the filmmakers decided to incorporate a prologue sequence, similar to a movie like The Lord of the Rings, that would cover all the necessary details. But that decision wasn't an immediate one. The Black Panther prologue sequence that introduces Wakanda, the five tribes, and the first Black Panther, Bashenga, almost wasn't included in the film.
RELATED: BLACK PANTHER DELETED SCENE CONFIRMS OKOYE & W'KABI ARE MARRIED
THE BLACK PANTHER BIBLE WAS 515 PAGES
In filmmaking (and in television), a bible is essentially a guidebook that a creative team abides by throughout production, which is usually written by the production designer. Considering the Black Panther character's expansive history and the fact that the creative behind the film were establishing a new world in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hannah Beachler said she created a bible that was a whopping 515 pages long, but the one Ryan Coogler had in his office was about 300 pages.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.'S DAUGHTER 'BLESSED' THE FILM
The vast majority of MCU movies have filmed in Atlanta, GA, over the past few years, with many locales being either rebuilt on sound stages or designed to look like they were filmed elsewhere. For instance, the Oakland sequence in Black Panther was actually filmed in Atlanta, which isn't interesting in and of itself. But what is interesting is that it was filmed across the street from where Martin Luther King, Jr. is buried, and Dr. King's daughter even visited Black Panther's set and "blessed" the project, which Ryan Coogler was very appreciative of.
EVERY CHARACTER IN BLACK PANTHER IS COLOR-COORDINATED
Color-coordination plays an integral role in the Black Panther movie, from the first scenes in Oakland all the way till the end. Throughout the movie, T'Challa and his father, T'Chaka, are seen wearing black because they are/were the Black Panthers. The same applies to the film's supporting characters; Okoye wears red since she's the general of the Dora Milaje, whereas Nakia wears green due to her connection with the Earth. Then, Killmonger (and his father, N'Jobu) wear blue since that color represents colonization, something that is at the core of their characters' backstories and motivations. Zuri is also seen wearing purple throughout the film, even in the Oakland scene.
RELATED: BLACK PANTHER'S COSTUME WAS ALMOST A DIFFERENT COLOR
KILLMONGER'S COSTUME WAS PARTIALLY INSPIRED BY TUPAC
One of the many things audiences will notice in Black Panther's Oakland sequence is that all three men in the room are wearing a gold necklace, with N'Jobu wearing a herringbone necklace. That necklace was inspired by Tupac, according to Ryan Coogler, since the famed rapper would wear those quite often in the early 1990s, which coincides with the Oakland scenes taking place in 1992. And because his father wore the herringbone necklace, Killmonger did as well, which can be seen throughout the movie.
ANOTHER BLACK PANTHER DELETED SCENE REVEALED
There are four deleted scenes from Black Panther that have been made public, of which all four come with the digital HD and Blu-ray releases, but one extra scene was revealed by Ryan Coogler in the film's audio commentary. While the scene wasn't all too important, it was meant to be a calming scene following a fight sequence. After T'Challa, Okoye, and Nakia defeated all the kidnappers towards the start of the movie, T'Challa then spent time collecting all the gadgets that they used, thereby maintaining Wakanda's secret technology.
RELATED: BLACK PANTHER'S DELETED SCENES CLEAR UP SOME OF THE FILM'S BIGGEST HOLES
THE LION KING REFERENCE PEOPLE MISSED
Black Panther is a comic book movie, which means there are dozens (if not hundreds) of easter eggs and references littered throughout - and one of them might have gone unnoticed by most viewers. Right after T'Challa has the Black Panther powers stripped away from him at Warrior Falls, audiences see a black stripe painted across his forehead. According to Ryan Coogler, that was a subtle shout-out to Disney's The Lion King, in which Rafiki makes a strip across Simba's forehead at the beginning of the film.
SPIELBERG'S LINCOLN INFLUENCED M'BAKU'S CHALLENGE
The first time that audiences see the Jabari, who are led by M'Baku, is during T'Challa's coronation. The entire sequence - from the Jabari's entrance to M'Baku's challenge - was inspired by Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. All of the political differences and the arguments regarding tradition were taken from that film. What's more, the barking that M'Baku does later in the film, when he cuts off Agent Ross, was actually improvised by the actor Winston Duke. What's even funnier is that Duke had done something similar when he briefly starred on the TV show Modern Family.
RELATED: M'BAKU SHOULD BE BLACK PANTHER 2'S VILLAIN
SHURI'S "WHAT ARE THOSE?" REFERENCE & BACK TO THE FUTURE
Every now and then a blockbuster movie will have a character that either audiences can connect with on a meta level or serves as the audiences' surrogate in the story. Shuri was more of the former in Black Panther - and that was mostly due to her knowledge of the outside world through the internet. Ryan Coogler not only confirmed the film's Back to the Future Part II reference with Shuri's "sneakers," but also mentioned that Shuri's "What are those?" joke was meant to show that she's connected with the rest of the world. That comes up again later when she brings up Coachella in the Oakland scene.
RELATED: MARVEL'S BLACK PANTHER: 30 THINGS YOU COMPLETELY MISSED
STAN LEE'S FAVORITE THING ABOUT T'CHALLA/BLACK PANTHER
Stan Lee has co-created some of the most iconic characters in comic book history - and one of those is T'Challa, aka the Black Panther. While there are a lot of aspects to Black Panther and his seemingly magical technology, the one thing that Lee loves most about the character is that he's filthy rich, which makes sense since Lee's cameo in the Black Panther movie was during the film's casino sequence. And in that scene, T'Challa leaves behind a lot of money without thinking twice... because he can.
RELATED: THE RICHEST CHARACTERS IN MARVEL COMICS
CASINO SCENE WAS GOING TO BE ONE SHOT
The casino scene is one of the most interesting sequences in the Black Panther movie, and that's followed up with an impressive car chase scene as well. While there are a few short tracking shots in the scene, there was originally a plan to make the fighting sequence one, long tracking shot, but that idea was eventually scrapped in favor of small breaks. Still, despite those cuts, the sequence still flows as if it was still one tracking shot.
THE FATE OF KILLMONGER'S MOM
It's revealed about midway through Black Panther that Erik Stevens' (aka Erik Killmonger) father, N'Jobu, was killed by T'Challa's father, T'Chaka, during the Oakland sequence in 1992. That's what sets him on the path to eventually take over Wakanda for himself. But one thing that's not explicitly revealed in the movie, yet is briefly mentioned in the film's audio commentary, is the fate of Killmonger's mother. In the movie, audiences hear N'Jobu talk about breaking a woman out of jail. According to Ryan Coogler, that woman is Killmonger's mother. And since N'Jobu never got the chance to rescue her, she inevitably died in prison, thus leaving Erik an orphan.
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA SAW AN EARLY CUT OF BLACK PANTHER
Legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola saw an early cut of Black Panther. He told Ryan Coogler that his favorite scene was when T'Challa confronts Zuri about the ring he saw on Killmonger's necklace. That's when the film cuts back to the opening Oakland scene and see Wakanda's "original sin" of T'Chaka killing N'Jobu and setting the movie's plot in motion. Coogler considers it to be one of the most important scenes in the film, which Coppola appears to agree with.
RELATED: BLACK PANTHER: ONE OF DONALD GLOVER'S SUGGESTED SCENES REVEALED
THE BLACK PANTHER CAST REVEAL THEIR FAVORITE MCU MOVIES
The Black Panther movie had been in development for over two decades, and when it finally released, it became the 18th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That means there were a lot of Marvel movies that came before it. And here are the Black Panther casts' favorite MCU movies: Thor: Ragnarok (Chadwick Boseman, Letitia Wright, Andy Serkis), Iron Man (Martin Freeman, Ryan Coogler), Black Panther (Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett).
It's no surprise that the majority of the cast would choose their own film as the best MCU movie, and in fact, many critics and moviegoers would agree with them. But, what's interesting is that the rest either chose the first Iron Man or Thor: Ragnarok; no one chose Captain America: The Winter Soldier or either of the Avengers films. Perhaps they'd feel differently if they were interviewed after Avengers: Infinity War had released.
KILLMONGER'S MISSION STATEMENT IN BLACK PANTHER
Most supervillains are out for power and wealth, but that's what separated Erik Killmonger from the rest of the mustache-twirling bad guys that plague comic book movies. Instead, Killmonger's core "mission statement" was to bring Wakanda into a new era because he felt that "Wakanda is lost." Considering Wakanda was set in their ways, Killmonger wasn't wrong, but his methods surely were. He wanted to essentially take over the planet, whereas T'Challa wants to share Wakanda's knowledge and resources, and also have the nation become a beacon of light for the rest of the world.
THERE ARE TWO PANTHERS IN THE HERB BURNING SCENE
Again, Black Panther is a comic book movie with lots of easter eggs and references, but sometimes there are things placed in the movie to allude to other events happening in the film. For instance, in the scene in which Killmonger has all the Heart-Shaped Herbs burned, he's standing in the middle of the City of the Dead, and at that moment, audiences can see two Panthers, one on each of Killmonger's sides. Ryan Coogler says that means there are still two Panthers out there: Killmonger and T'Challa, who is later found alive with the Jabari.
RELATED: 15 CHARACTERS YOU DIDN’T KNOW WERE BLACK PANTHER
NAKIA IS HEAVILY INSPIRED BY HARRIET TUBMAN
Audiences are first introduced to Nakia while she's attempting to free kidnapped women, which is something that has become her calling as a Wakandan, which makes sense since Ryan Coogler says in the film's audio commentary that Nakia was heavily inspired by Harriet Tubman. For those that don't know, Harriet Tubman was an abolitionist who served as a spy for the Union during the American Civil War and helped free dozens of slaves via the Underground Railroad. What's interesting is that Nakia's dedication to helping the rest of the world, especially the less fortunate, is what helps T'Challa decide to open Wakanda's borders at the end of the film.
OKOYE LOSES THE FIRST DORA MILAJE IN THOUSANDS OF YEARS
The Dora Milaje are some of the most skilled warriors on the planet - and that is clearly evident in both Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, in which they are led by General Okoye (Danai Gurira). But while Killmonger is temporarily King of Wakanda and the Black Panther, he immediately kills one of the Dora Milaje himself during the Battle of Mount Bashenga. That is the first member of the Dora Milaje to be killed in combat in thousands of years, according to Ryan Coogler. Audiences can also see Okoye's reaction to losing one of her warriors as well.
RELATED: WHERE THE WAKANDA FOREVER SALUTE COMES FROM
T'CHALLA SEES KILLMONGER AS FAMILY
At its core, Black Panther is about family. It's centered around a quarrel between cousins who are both vying for the throne as well as Wakanda's future. T'Challa wants to continue Wakanda's traditions and steer the nation free of any conflict, whereas Killmonger wants to use the country's technology and power to better the world, while also conquering it in a way. Their differences put them at odds, with T'Challa eventually defeating Killmonger in battle. But, no matter what happened, T'Challa still considered Killmonger family, according to Ryan Coogler. That's why he brought Erik up to the top of Mt. Bashenga to see the sun before he died, to give him a proper death.
THE CAR CHASE USED LOTS OF PRACTICAL EFFECTS
It's no secret that MCU movies have had their fair share of bad CGI - and Black Pantherwas no exception. There were parts of the film that weren't properly developed effects-wise, but the car chase sequence was not one of them. That scene was well-done, and it seems that part of that reason is because the production crew used quite a lot of practical effects in the scene, at least much more than people realize. And to get everything down perfectly, the team shot in Busan, South Korea, for a total of nine nights, just for that scene alone.
RELATED: THE MCU MADE UP FOR ITS POOR CGI WITH THANOS
T'CHALLA'S SECOND TIME IN THE ANCESTRAL PLANE
When T'Challa visits the Ancestral Plane for the second time, he sees his father as well as most of his ancestors. But, instead of seeing them as Panthers once again, T'Challa sees them as humans because he's confronting them as such. He's challenging their ways, for what they've done has led to them to that moment, to Killmonger taking over the throne. After all, Killmonger was an enemy they had inadvertently created. This entire scene plays into the contrasts from the beginning of the film.
M'BAKU GIVING UP THE HEART-SHAPED HERB IS THE MOST HONORABLE THING
Everyone believed T'Challa was dead, which is why the royal family offered the Heart-Shaped Herb to M'Baku to grant the powers of the Black Panther so that he could defeat Killmonger. However, M'Baku rejected the offer and, instead, showed Ramonda, Shuri, Nakia, and Agent Ross that the Jabari had rescued T'Challa from the river. Giving up all that power and paying back T'Challa for sparing his life is considered by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to be the most honorable thing that anyone has ever done in the MCU, according to director Ryan Coogler.
WAKANDA DEVELOPED AS A POTENTIAL PLACE ON EARTH
On the outside, Wakanda appears otherworldly. And combined with its technological advancements, it seems like a pure science fiction future. But when the production team was designing the world of Wakanda, producer Nate Moore says that they were going for a design that would give audiences the impression that someplace like this could exist somewhere on Earth - perhaps not today but possibly in the future. Of course, at that point, Black Panther fans would be lining up to go visit it.
- BY MANSOOR MITHAIWALA
- – ON MAY 16, 2018
- IN SR ORIGINALS
The Black Panther home video release comes equipped with plenty of behind-the-scenes content and featurettes that reveal much more about the film, its characters, its story, and how it all came together after being stuck in development hell for 24 years. Considering just how well Black Panther performed - both critically and commercially - it seems that all the time spent developing the movie was well worth it.
While the creative team behind Black Panther managed to deliver a solid superhero movie that was different and fun for audiences at the same time, there's much more to the film that moviegoers might have initially overlooked. Several of the featurettes, as well as audio commentary from director Ryan Coogler and production designer Hannah Beachler, shed some light on the making of Black Panther, including various other details.
RELATED: BLACK PANTHER’S SUCCESS HURTS AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR’S FINAL ACT
BLACK PANTHER PROLOGUE ALMOST WASN'T INCLUDED
The history of Wakanda and the Black Panther plays an integral role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it's a lot to introduce to audiences without wasting too much time. So, the filmmakers decided to incorporate a prologue sequence, similar to a movie like The Lord of the Rings, that would cover all the necessary details. But that decision wasn't an immediate one. The Black Panther prologue sequence that introduces Wakanda, the five tribes, and the first Black Panther, Bashenga, almost wasn't included in the film.
RELATED: BLACK PANTHER DELETED SCENE CONFIRMS OKOYE & W'KABI ARE MARRIED
THE BLACK PANTHER BIBLE WAS 515 PAGES
In filmmaking (and in television), a bible is essentially a guidebook that a creative team abides by throughout production, which is usually written by the production designer. Considering the Black Panther character's expansive history and the fact that the creative behind the film were establishing a new world in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hannah Beachler said she created a bible that was a whopping 515 pages long, but the one Ryan Coogler had in his office was about 300 pages.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.'S DAUGHTER 'BLESSED' THE FILM
The vast majority of MCU movies have filmed in Atlanta, GA, over the past few years, with many locales being either rebuilt on sound stages or designed to look like they were filmed elsewhere. For instance, the Oakland sequence in Black Panther was actually filmed in Atlanta, which isn't interesting in and of itself. But what is interesting is that it was filmed across the street from where Martin Luther King, Jr. is buried, and Dr. King's daughter even visited Black Panther's set and "blessed" the project, which Ryan Coogler was very appreciative of.
EVERY CHARACTER IN BLACK PANTHER IS COLOR-COORDINATED
Color-coordination plays an integral role in the Black Panther movie, from the first scenes in Oakland all the way till the end. Throughout the movie, T'Challa and his father, T'Chaka, are seen wearing black because they are/were the Black Panthers. The same applies to the film's supporting characters; Okoye wears red since she's the general of the Dora Milaje, whereas Nakia wears green due to her connection with the Earth. Then, Killmonger (and his father, N'Jobu) wear blue since that color represents colonization, something that is at the core of their characters' backstories and motivations. Zuri is also seen wearing purple throughout the film, even in the Oakland scene.
RELATED: BLACK PANTHER'S COSTUME WAS ALMOST A DIFFERENT COLOR
KILLMONGER'S COSTUME WAS PARTIALLY INSPIRED BY TUPAC
One of the many things audiences will notice in Black Panther's Oakland sequence is that all three men in the room are wearing a gold necklace, with N'Jobu wearing a herringbone necklace. That necklace was inspired by Tupac, according to Ryan Coogler, since the famed rapper would wear those quite often in the early 1990s, which coincides with the Oakland scenes taking place in 1992. And because his father wore the herringbone necklace, Killmonger did as well, which can be seen throughout the movie.
ANOTHER BLACK PANTHER DELETED SCENE REVEALED
There are four deleted scenes from Black Panther that have been made public, of which all four come with the digital HD and Blu-ray releases, but one extra scene was revealed by Ryan Coogler in the film's audio commentary. While the scene wasn't all too important, it was meant to be a calming scene following a fight sequence. After T'Challa, Okoye, and Nakia defeated all the kidnappers towards the start of the movie, T'Challa then spent time collecting all the gadgets that they used, thereby maintaining Wakanda's secret technology.
RELATED: BLACK PANTHER'S DELETED SCENES CLEAR UP SOME OF THE FILM'S BIGGEST HOLES
THE LION KING REFERENCE PEOPLE MISSED
Black Panther is a comic book movie, which means there are dozens (if not hundreds) of easter eggs and references littered throughout - and one of them might have gone unnoticed by most viewers. Right after T'Challa has the Black Panther powers stripped away from him at Warrior Falls, audiences see a black stripe painted across his forehead. According to Ryan Coogler, that was a subtle shout-out to Disney's The Lion King, in which Rafiki makes a strip across Simba's forehead at the beginning of the film.
- BY MANSOOR MITHAIWALA
- – ON MAY 16, 2018
- IN SR ORIGINALS
SPIELBERG'S LINCOLN INFLUENCED M'BAKU'S CHALLENGE
The first time that audiences see the Jabari, who are led by M'Baku, is during T'Challa's coronation. The entire sequence - from the Jabari's entrance to M'Baku's challenge - was inspired by Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. All of the political differences and the arguments regarding tradition were taken from that film. What's more, the barking that M'Baku does later in the film, when he cuts off Agent Ross, was actually improvised by the actor Winston Duke. What's even funnier is that Duke had done something similar when he briefly starred on the TV show Modern Family.
RELATED: M'BAKU SHOULD BE BLACK PANTHER 2'S VILLAIN
SHURI'S "WHAT ARE THOSE?" REFERENCE & BACK TO THE FUTURE
Every now and then a blockbuster movie will have a character that either audiences can connect with on a meta level or serves as the audiences' surrogate in the story. Shuri was more of the former in Black Panther - and that was mostly due to her knowledge of the outside world through the internet. Ryan Coogler not only confirmed the film's Back to the Future Part II reference with Shuri's "sneakers," but also mentioned that Shuri's "What are those?" joke was meant to show that she's connected with the rest of the world. That comes up again later when she brings up Coachella in the Oakland scene.
RELATED: MARVEL'S BLACK PANTHER: 30 THINGS YOU COMPLETELY MISSED
STAN LEE'S FAVORITE THING ABOUT T'CHALLA/BLACK PANTHER
Stan Lee has co-created some of the most iconic characters in comic book history - and one of those is T'Challa, aka the Black Panther. While there are a lot of aspects to Black Panther and his seemingly magical technology, the one thing that Lee loves most about the character is that he's filthy rich, which makes sense since Lee's cameo in the Black Panther movie was during the film's casino sequence. And in that scene, T'Challa leaves behind a lot of money without thinking twice... because he can.
RELATED: THE RICHEST CHARACTERS IN MARVEL COMICS
CASINO SCENE WAS GOING TO BE ONE SHOT
The casino scene is one of the most interesting sequences in the Black Panther movie, and that's followed up with an impressive car chase scene as well. While there are a few short tracking shots in the scene, there was originally a plan to make the fighting sequence one, long tracking shot, but that idea was eventually scrapped in favor of small breaks. Still, despite those cuts, the sequence still flows as if it was still one tracking shot.
THE FATE OF KILLMONGER'S MOM
It's revealed about midway through Black Panther that Erik Stevens' (aka Erik Killmonger) father, N'Jobu, was killed by T'Challa's father, T'Chaka, during the Oakland sequence in 1992. That's what sets him on the path to eventually take over Wakanda for himself. But one thing that's not explicitly revealed in the movie, yet is briefly mentioned in the film's audio commentary, is the fate of Killmonger's mother. In the movie, audiences hear N'Jobu talk about breaking a woman out of jail. According to Ryan Coogler, that woman is Killmonger's mother. And since N'Jobu never got the chance to rescue her, she inevitably died in prison, thus leaving Erik an orphan.
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA SAW AN EARLY CUT OF BLACK PANTHER
Legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola saw an early cut of Black Panther. He told Ryan Coogler that his favorite scene was when T'Challa confronts Zuri about the ring he saw on Killmonger's necklace. That's when the film cuts back to the opening Oakland scene and see Wakanda's "original sin" of T'Chaka killing N'Jobu and setting the movie's plot in motion. Coogler considers it to be one of the most important scenes in the film, which Coppola appears to agree with.
RELATED: BLACK PANTHER: ONE OF DONALD GLOVER'S SUGGESTED SCENES REVEALED
THE BLACK PANTHER CAST REVEAL THEIR FAVORITE MCU MOVIES
The Black Panther movie had been in development for over two decades, and when it finally released, it became the 18th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That means there were a lot of Marvel movies that came before it. And here are the Black Panther casts' favorite MCU movies: Thor: Ragnarok (Chadwick Boseman, Letitia Wright, Andy Serkis), Iron Man (Martin Freeman, Ryan Coogler), Black Panther (Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett).
It's no surprise that the majority of the cast would choose their own film as the best MCU movie, and in fact, many critics and moviegoers would agree with them. But, what's interesting is that the rest either chose the first Iron Man or Thor: Ragnarok; no one chose Captain America: The Winter Soldier or either of the Avengers films. Perhaps they'd feel differently if they were interviewed after Avengers: Infinity War had released.
KILLMONGER'S MISSION STATEMENT IN BLACK PANTHER
Most supervillains are out for power and wealth, but that's what separated Erik Killmonger from the rest of the mustache-twirling bad guys that plague comic book movies. Instead, Killmonger's core "mission statement" was to bring Wakanda into a new era because he felt that "Wakanda is lost." Considering Wakanda was set in their ways, Killmonger wasn't wrong, but his methods surely were. He wanted to essentially take over the planet, whereas T'Challa wants to share Wakanda's knowledge and resources, and also have the nation become a beacon of light for the rest of the world.
- BY MANSOOR MITHAIWALA
- – ON MAY 16, 2018
- IN SR ORIGINALS
THERE ARE TWO PANTHERS IN THE HERB BURNING SCENE
Again, Black Panther is a comic book movie with lots of easter eggs and references, but sometimes there are things placed in the movie to allude to other events happening in the film. For instance, in the scene in which Killmonger has all the Heart-Shaped Herbs burned, he's standing in the middle of the City of the Dead, and at that moment, audiences can see two Panthers, one on each of Killmonger's sides. Ryan Coogler says that means there are still two Panthers out there: Killmonger and T'Challa, who is later found alive with the Jabari.
RELATED: 15 CHARACTERS YOU DIDN’T KNOW WERE BLACK PANTHER
NAKIA IS HEAVILY INSPIRED BY HARRIET TUBMAN
Audiences are first introduced to Nakia while she's attempting to free kidnapped women, which is something that has become her calling as a Wakandan, which makes sense since Ryan Coogler says in the film's audio commentary that Nakia was heavily inspired by Harriet Tubman. For those that don't know, Harriet Tubman was an abolitionist who served as a spy for the Union during the American Civil War and helped free dozens of slaves via the Underground Railroad. What's interesting is that Nakia's dedication to helping the rest of the world, especially the less fortunate, is what helps T'Challa decide to open Wakanda's borders at the end of the film.
OKOYE LOSES THE FIRST DORA MILAJE IN THOUSANDS OF YEARS
The Dora Milaje are some of the most skilled warriors on the planet - and that is clearly evident in both Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, in which they are led by General Okoye (Danai Gurira). But while Killmonger is temporarily King of Wakanda and the Black Panther, he immediately kills one of the Dora Milaje himself during the Battle of Mount Bashenga. That is the first member of the Dora Milaje to be killed in combat in thousands of years, according to Ryan Coogler. Audiences can also see Okoye's reaction to losing one of her warriors as well.
RELATED: WHERE THE WAKANDA FOREVER SALUTE COMES FROM
T'CHALLA SEES KILLMONGER AS FAMILY
At its core, Black Panther is about family. It's centered around a quarrel between cousins who are both vying for the throne as well as Wakanda's future. T'Challa wants to continue Wakanda's traditions and steer the nation free of any conflict, whereas Killmonger wants to use the country's technology and power to better the world, while also conquering it in a way. Their differences put them at odds, with T'Challa eventually defeating Killmonger in battle. But, no matter what happened, T'Challa still considered Killmonger family, according to Ryan Coogler. That's why he brought Erik up to the top of Mt. Bashenga to see the sun before he died, to give him a proper death.
THE CAR CHASE USED LOTS OF PRACTICAL EFFECTS
It's no secret that MCU movies have had their fair share of bad CGI - and Black Pantherwas no exception. There were parts of the film that weren't properly developed effects-wise, but the car chase sequence was not one of them. That scene was well-done, and it seems that part of that reason is because the production crew used quite a lot of practical effects in the scene, at least much more than people realize. And to get everything down perfectly, the team shot in Busan, South Korea, for a total of nine nights, just for that scene alone.
RELATED: THE MCU MADE UP FOR ITS POOR CGI WITH THANOS
T'CHALLA'S SECOND TIME IN THE ANCESTRAL PLANE
When T'Challa visits the Ancestral Plane for the second time, he sees his father as well as most of his ancestors. But, instead of seeing them as Panthers once again, T'Challa sees them as humans because he's confronting them as such. He's challenging their ways, for what they've done has led to them to that moment, to Killmonger taking over the throne. After all, Killmonger was an enemy they had inadvertently created. This entire scene plays into the contrasts from the beginning of the film.
M'BAKU GIVING UP THE HEART-SHAPED HERB IS THE MOST HONORABLE THING
Everyone believed T'Challa was dead, which is why the royal family offered the Heart-Shaped Herb to M'Baku to grant the powers of the Black Panther so that he could defeat Killmonger. However, M'Baku rejected the offer and, instead, showed Ramonda, Shuri, Nakia, and Agent Ross that the Jabari had rescued T'Challa from the river. Giving up all that power and paying back T'Challa for sparing his life is considered by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to be the most honorable thing that anyone has ever done in the MCU, according to director Ryan Coogler.
WAKANDA DEVELOPED AS A POTENTIAL PLACE ON EARTH
On the outside, Wakanda appears otherworldly. And combined with its technological advancements, it seems like a pure science fiction future. But when the production team was designing the world of Wakanda, producer Nate Moore says that they were going for a design that would give audiences the impression that someplace like this could exist somewhere on Earth - perhaps not today but possibly in the future. Of course, at that point, Black Panther fans would be lining up to go visit it.
It would be a lot of white people dead. They’d be dying in opening and closing credits. For real 
Similar themes in ‘Black Panther’ and Haitian documentary
3/1/2018, 2:39 a.m.
Re “ ‘Black Panther’ pounces on box office,’ Free Press Feb. 22-24 edition:
My family and I enjoyed the documentary “1804: The Hidden History of Haiti” hosted by the Elegba Folklore Society on Feb. 17. It was a great opportunity to learn about Haitian history.
On Feb. 18, we saw the amazing “Black Panther” movie.
Now, I am smart enough to understand that “Black Panther” is an awesome work of fiction based on the Marvel Comics. But I also was able to observe the incredible storytelling skills it took to make this movie so great. Themes throughout the “Black Panther” movie paralleled themes discussed during the Haitian documentary we saw — (hopefully, no spoilers) colonization, slavery, the beautiful and powerful spirit of the African people, misuse and abuse of natural resources by others, the African nation Benin, the strength and power of our women. There are pages and pages of essay material here!
Each time an important theme was voiced in the movie, we would whisper to each other the similar ideals we’d seen and heard during the documentary.
My family and I love going to the movies, and have probably seen every DC Comics and Marvel Comics movie made. But it was indeed a blessing to see the Haitian documentary before watching “Black Panther.” It furthered our understanding of just how important it is to learn more about our history and the impact it has on us today. We were also enlightened to the importance of this awesome movie!
ROSE V. SMITH
Richmond
http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2018/mar/01/similar-themes-black-panther-and-haitian-documenta/
3/1/2018, 2:39 a.m.
Re “ ‘Black Panther’ pounces on box office,’ Free Press Feb. 22-24 edition:
My family and I enjoyed the documentary “1804: The Hidden History of Haiti” hosted by the Elegba Folklore Society on Feb. 17. It was a great opportunity to learn about Haitian history.
On Feb. 18, we saw the amazing “Black Panther” movie.
Now, I am smart enough to understand that “Black Panther” is an awesome work of fiction based on the Marvel Comics. But I also was able to observe the incredible storytelling skills it took to make this movie so great. Themes throughout the “Black Panther” movie paralleled themes discussed during the Haitian documentary we saw — (hopefully, no spoilers) colonization, slavery, the beautiful and powerful spirit of the African people, misuse and abuse of natural resources by others, the African nation Benin, the strength and power of our women. There are pages and pages of essay material here!
Each time an important theme was voiced in the movie, we would whisper to each other the similar ideals we’d seen and heard during the documentary.
My family and I love going to the movies, and have probably seen every DC Comics and Marvel Comics movie made. But it was indeed a blessing to see the Haitian documentary before watching “Black Panther.” It furthered our understanding of just how important it is to learn more about our history and the impact it has on us today. We were also enlightened to the importance of this awesome movie!
ROSE V. SMITH
Richmond
http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2018/mar/01/similar-themes-black-panther-and-haitian-documenta/
https://www.nola.com/movies/index.ssf/2018/02/heres_why_marvels_black_panthe.html
Here's why Marvel's 'Black Panther' movie is such a big deal
Updated Feb 12, 2018; Posted Feb 12, 2018
Chadwick Boseman, as the title character in Marvel Films' 2018 action-adventure "Black Panther." (Disney/Marvel)(Disney/Marvel)
117shares
By The Washington Post
The crown for the world's greatest black superhero has always been worn by the Black Panther. For starters, he was the world's first, and for more than 50 years, Marvel Comics' African legend has been hurling a black-gloved fist to the stereotypical notion that superheroes of color only work as side characters.
T'Challa, the man under the mask, is a king who rules an African nation that has never been invaded, one that's the most technologically advanced society in the Marvel universe. He's been an Avenger, married and divorced a member of the X-Men, and helped fend off aliens. Few Marvel characters come close to matching his intelligence, and he's traded punches with some of the greatest heroes and villains around and stood tall in the end. Heck, even his grandfather punched Captain America once.
Speaking of the Captain, that indestructible star-spangled shield? It's made of vibranium, a metal mined only in T'Challa's Wakanda.
Spring Movie Preview 2018: A sneak peek at 60 new films
A look ahead at the movie season to come.
The Black Panther has allowed comic book fans of color to look past the medium's lack of diversity and take solace in an undeniable fact: He's simply one of the coolest superheroes around. The rest of the world will probably catch up Feb. 16, when Marvel Studios releases the hotly anticipated, ecstatically reviewed "Black Panther" movie, which is expected to make at least $120 million over its opening four-day weekend.
"Sometimes the first character of a category is perfect," said former "Black Panther" comic book writer Reginald Hudlin. "Superman is like that. Batman is like that. Wonder Woman is like that. They are perfect. And Black Panther is like that."
In 1966, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the character to correct the lack of superhero representation -- just months before the founding of the Black Panther Party. (To avoid controversy, Marvel briefly changed the name to Black Leopard but later realized that just didn't have the same oomph.)
Marvel Studios' Black Panther - Official Trailer
The pair -- both white -- had brought an awareness of civil rights to their work before. In 1963, they created the X-Men, who, while drawn as white, faced discrimination for being mutants. Professor Xavier was seen as a Martin Luther King figure, while his friend-turned-enemy Magneto took a by-any-means-necessary, Malcolm X-like approach to prejudice.
In Black Panther's first appearance, he defeated the Fantastic Four in their own comic. In the years since, fan-favorite runs of three black writers have come to define the character. Christopher Priest in the 1990s made him a no-nonsense hero with an elite all-female bodyguard squad, the Dora Milaje. Hudlin established Wakanda as an unrivaled kingdom in 2005. Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of "Between the World and Me," took over in 2016 by having the character confront a revolution that questions the legitimacy of Wakanda's monarchy.
Many of the black superheroes who followed Black Panther beat him to the screen. Robert Townsend directed and starred in "Meteor Man," a comedic superhero take in 1993. In 1998, the three-film "Blade" franchise, starring Wesley Snipes as a half-human/half-vampire, was perhaps the movie that helped Hollywood realize the box office possibilities for a Marvel character. Eartha Kitt took on the role of the villain Catwoman on the "Batman" TV show in 1967. Catwoman got her own dreadfully reviewed movie starring Halle Berry in 2004.
In recent years, more black superheroes have populated Marvel and DC films, but all in secondary parts, including Cyborg (Ray Fisher) in "Justice League," the Falcon (Anthony Mackie) in "Captain America: Civil War," Storm (Berry) in the X-Men movies and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in "The Avengers." As TV has gotten more superhero shows with more diverse casts, Luke Cage and Black Lightning have gotten self-titled series on Netflix and the CW, respectively.
Black Panther's path to the screen has been rocky. There were rumors of a John Singleton- directed version starring Snipes in the '90s, but it stalled because of Marvel's bankruptcy issues, its horrible box-office track record at the time, executives unable to separate the hero from the same-name political movement and a lack of modern CGI.
Spring Movie Preview 2018: 7 best bets headed to theaters
A look ahead at some of the more intriguing titles on tap.
At one point, Hudlin -- director of "Marshall" and producer of "Django Unchained" -- envisioned making the film. He even read a stack of scripts. One had T'Challa growing up in the projects in America, unaware that he was African royalty.
"They were all awful," Hudlin said. "I just read (them) and said, 'God, this is everything the movie should not be.' "
But after Marvel Studios cinematic universe started a decade ago and launched successful series such as "Iron Man" and "The Avengers" -- while casting a bunch of white, blond guys named Chris -- fans knew it was bound to use its rights to the top black superhero.
Chadwick Boseman was cast in 2014, and the character made his first cinematic appearance in 2016's "Captain America: Civil War." Ava DuVernay ("Selma") was in talks to direct his first solo film, but she and the studio had differences of opinion on the story. Marvel hired Ryan Coogler, acclaimed director of "Fruitvale Station" and "Creed," and cast the star of those films, Michael B. Jordan, as the villain, Erik Killmonger.
Hudlin said he met Boseman shortly after the actor was cast, at an awards event in Los Angeles. The two caught each other's eye, smiled, and Boseman said, "I know you want to talk about it." Hudlin walked away from that conversation so impressed that he cast Boseman as Thurgood Marshall in his biopic.
The most important thing, Hudlin said, is that Marvel got the movie right. "Ultimately, this movie is going to be so huge, it's going to change Hollywood. It's going to change the perception of black films."
If it is indeed successful, one reason will be that the Black Panther's ethos goes beyond superheroics and offers a deeper meaning. Salim Akil, co-creator of the "Black Lightning" TV show, said that the character gets at "the connection that a lot of African-Americans want to have with Africa. We lost that part of us, so it's great to be able to see that in the context of a superhero."
Evan Narcisse, a writer for Io9 who also co-writes "The Rise of the Black Panther" miniseries with Coates, said T'Challa and his homeland channel a lot of unspoken desire that black readers have for how they want their collective paths to be represented.
"Wakanda represents this unbroken chain of achievement of black excellence that never got interrupted by colonialism," Narcisse said.
Narcisse, who's Haitian-American, writes a Black Panther series that is "filtered through my own Haitian identity." When writing about the Wakandans' pride in their homeland, he's able to bring in the pride Haitians feel about achieving independence from France.
"We're in a political moment where the president of the United States calls people from Haiti and Africa, he calls those countries 's---holes,' " Narcisse said. "If you're a young person hearing that ... you need to see a superhero that's smart, cunning and noble who also looks like you. Granted, it's fiction, but superheroes have always had an aspirational aspect to them."
Another writer, Roye Okupe, grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and after graduating from George Washington University in 2009, he created YouNeek Studios, a self-published line of African superhero graphic novels, including "E.X.O." and "Malika: Warrior Queen." Okupe said "Black Panther" has an opportunity to show mainstream viewers that there are ways Africa can be portrayed aside from the usual war and corruption. He said he hopes that after its success, "people around the world writing stories like this about Afro-futurism, high-concept fantasy stories based on African culture and African mythology, can be given an opportunity to pitch to movie studios, pitch to TV networks.
"It's not just about shoving African-ness into your face. It's showing the different side of a culture that you don't necessarily get to see all the time."
As for hardcore fans on Black Twitter, they made the hashtag #blackpanthersolit trend before the movie was even in production. In recent months, many have tweeted GIFs and viewed trailers repeatedly, and watched as the cast -- which also includes Angela Bassett, Sterling K. Brown, Lupita Nyong'o and Forest Whitaker -- tweet images of their characters.
Marvel sees "the impact of Black Twitter, and they're using that to their advantage by creating this mass marketing machine around it," said Jamie Broadnax, founder of the geek culture site Black Girl Nerds.
"Black Panther" is on pace to sell more advance tickets than any superhero film in Fandango's 18-year history. Actress Octavia Spencer is planning to buy out a theater in Mississippi for kids of color, and ESPN journalist Jemele Hill is organizing a screening for 200 students in Detroit.
Broadnax said the reason for the hype is simple.
"I truly believe that most people in this world want to see diversity in their entertainment," she says. "I think there's a large contingent of folks out there that actually want to see a different kind of superhero."
Here's why Marvel's 'Black Panther' movie is such a big deal
Updated Feb 12, 2018; Posted Feb 12, 2018
Chadwick Boseman, as the title character in Marvel Films' 2018 action-adventure "Black Panther." (Disney/Marvel)(Disney/Marvel)
117shares
By The Washington Post
The crown for the world's greatest black superhero has always been worn by the Black Panther. For starters, he was the world's first, and for more than 50 years, Marvel Comics' African legend has been hurling a black-gloved fist to the stereotypical notion that superheroes of color only work as side characters.
T'Challa, the man under the mask, is a king who rules an African nation that has never been invaded, one that's the most technologically advanced society in the Marvel universe. He's been an Avenger, married and divorced a member of the X-Men, and helped fend off aliens. Few Marvel characters come close to matching his intelligence, and he's traded punches with some of the greatest heroes and villains around and stood tall in the end. Heck, even his grandfather punched Captain America once.
Speaking of the Captain, that indestructible star-spangled shield? It's made of vibranium, a metal mined only in T'Challa's Wakanda.
Spring Movie Preview 2018: A sneak peek at 60 new films
A look ahead at the movie season to come.
The Black Panther has allowed comic book fans of color to look past the medium's lack of diversity and take solace in an undeniable fact: He's simply one of the coolest superheroes around. The rest of the world will probably catch up Feb. 16, when Marvel Studios releases the hotly anticipated, ecstatically reviewed "Black Panther" movie, which is expected to make at least $120 million over its opening four-day weekend.
"Sometimes the first character of a category is perfect," said former "Black Panther" comic book writer Reginald Hudlin. "Superman is like that. Batman is like that. Wonder Woman is like that. They are perfect. And Black Panther is like that."
In 1966, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the character to correct the lack of superhero representation -- just months before the founding of the Black Panther Party. (To avoid controversy, Marvel briefly changed the name to Black Leopard but later realized that just didn't have the same oomph.)
Marvel Studios' Black Panther - Official Trailer
The pair -- both white -- had brought an awareness of civil rights to their work before. In 1963, they created the X-Men, who, while drawn as white, faced discrimination for being mutants. Professor Xavier was seen as a Martin Luther King figure, while his friend-turned-enemy Magneto took a by-any-means-necessary, Malcolm X-like approach to prejudice.
In Black Panther's first appearance, he defeated the Fantastic Four in their own comic. In the years since, fan-favorite runs of three black writers have come to define the character. Christopher Priest in the 1990s made him a no-nonsense hero with an elite all-female bodyguard squad, the Dora Milaje. Hudlin established Wakanda as an unrivaled kingdom in 2005. Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of "Between the World and Me," took over in 2016 by having the character confront a revolution that questions the legitimacy of Wakanda's monarchy.
Many of the black superheroes who followed Black Panther beat him to the screen. Robert Townsend directed and starred in "Meteor Man," a comedic superhero take in 1993. In 1998, the three-film "Blade" franchise, starring Wesley Snipes as a half-human/half-vampire, was perhaps the movie that helped Hollywood realize the box office possibilities for a Marvel character. Eartha Kitt took on the role of the villain Catwoman on the "Batman" TV show in 1967. Catwoman got her own dreadfully reviewed movie starring Halle Berry in 2004.
In recent years, more black superheroes have populated Marvel and DC films, but all in secondary parts, including Cyborg (Ray Fisher) in "Justice League," the Falcon (Anthony Mackie) in "Captain America: Civil War," Storm (Berry) in the X-Men movies and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in "The Avengers." As TV has gotten more superhero shows with more diverse casts, Luke Cage and Black Lightning have gotten self-titled series on Netflix and the CW, respectively.
Black Panther's path to the screen has been rocky. There were rumors of a John Singleton- directed version starring Snipes in the '90s, but it stalled because of Marvel's bankruptcy issues, its horrible box-office track record at the time, executives unable to separate the hero from the same-name political movement and a lack of modern CGI.
Spring Movie Preview 2018: 7 best bets headed to theaters
A look ahead at some of the more intriguing titles on tap.
At one point, Hudlin -- director of "Marshall" and producer of "Django Unchained" -- envisioned making the film. He even read a stack of scripts. One had T'Challa growing up in the projects in America, unaware that he was African royalty.
"They were all awful," Hudlin said. "I just read (them) and said, 'God, this is everything the movie should not be.' "
But after Marvel Studios cinematic universe started a decade ago and launched successful series such as "Iron Man" and "The Avengers" -- while casting a bunch of white, blond guys named Chris -- fans knew it was bound to use its rights to the top black superhero.
Chadwick Boseman was cast in 2014, and the character made his first cinematic appearance in 2016's "Captain America: Civil War." Ava DuVernay ("Selma") was in talks to direct his first solo film, but she and the studio had differences of opinion on the story. Marvel hired Ryan Coogler, acclaimed director of "Fruitvale Station" and "Creed," and cast the star of those films, Michael B. Jordan, as the villain, Erik Killmonger.
Hudlin said he met Boseman shortly after the actor was cast, at an awards event in Los Angeles. The two caught each other's eye, smiled, and Boseman said, "I know you want to talk about it." Hudlin walked away from that conversation so impressed that he cast Boseman as Thurgood Marshall in his biopic.
The most important thing, Hudlin said, is that Marvel got the movie right. "Ultimately, this movie is going to be so huge, it's going to change Hollywood. It's going to change the perception of black films."
If it is indeed successful, one reason will be that the Black Panther's ethos goes beyond superheroics and offers a deeper meaning. Salim Akil, co-creator of the "Black Lightning" TV show, said that the character gets at "the connection that a lot of African-Americans want to have with Africa. We lost that part of us, so it's great to be able to see that in the context of a superhero."
Evan Narcisse, a writer for Io9 who also co-writes "The Rise of the Black Panther" miniseries with Coates, said T'Challa and his homeland channel a lot of unspoken desire that black readers have for how they want their collective paths to be represented.
"Wakanda represents this unbroken chain of achievement of black excellence that never got interrupted by colonialism," Narcisse said.
Narcisse, who's Haitian-American, writes a Black Panther series that is "filtered through my own Haitian identity." When writing about the Wakandans' pride in their homeland, he's able to bring in the pride Haitians feel about achieving independence from France.
"We're in a political moment where the president of the United States calls people from Haiti and Africa, he calls those countries 's---holes,' " Narcisse said. "If you're a young person hearing that ... you need to see a superhero that's smart, cunning and noble who also looks like you. Granted, it's fiction, but superheroes have always had an aspirational aspect to them."
Another writer, Roye Okupe, grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and after graduating from George Washington University in 2009, he created YouNeek Studios, a self-published line of African superhero graphic novels, including "E.X.O." and "Malika: Warrior Queen." Okupe said "Black Panther" has an opportunity to show mainstream viewers that there are ways Africa can be portrayed aside from the usual war and corruption. He said he hopes that after its success, "people around the world writing stories like this about Afro-futurism, high-concept fantasy stories based on African culture and African mythology, can be given an opportunity to pitch to movie studios, pitch to TV networks.
"It's not just about shoving African-ness into your face. It's showing the different side of a culture that you don't necessarily get to see all the time."
As for hardcore fans on Black Twitter, they made the hashtag #blackpanthersolit trend before the movie was even in production. In recent months, many have tweeted GIFs and viewed trailers repeatedly, and watched as the cast -- which also includes Angela Bassett, Sterling K. Brown, Lupita Nyong'o and Forest Whitaker -- tweet images of their characters.
Marvel sees "the impact of Black Twitter, and they're using that to their advantage by creating this mass marketing machine around it," said Jamie Broadnax, founder of the geek culture site Black Girl Nerds.
"Black Panther" is on pace to sell more advance tickets than any superhero film in Fandango's 18-year history. Actress Octavia Spencer is planning to buy out a theater in Mississippi for kids of color, and ESPN journalist Jemele Hill is organizing a screening for 200 students in Detroit.
Broadnax said the reason for the hype is simple.
"I truly believe that most people in this world want to see diversity in their entertainment," she says. "I think there's a large contingent of folks out there that actually want to see a different kind of superhero."
Are The Oscars Scared Of Disrespecting Black Panther?
The Academy’s announcement of a Best Popular Film Oscar hints at wider fears of shutting out blockbusters and superhero films: Is Black Panther the reason for the change?
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, best known as the home of the Oscars, have been struggling to find their place in the world for the past decade. For many years, it was common practice for the Academy to reward mainstream blockbuster movies like Star Wars and Jaws alongside the expected critical favorites like Annie Hall.
Related: Screen Rant's Thoughts On The Oscars & The New "Popular Film" Category
As Hollywood’s priorities changed and the Oscars became a means for indie films to get good publicity, the Academy focused less on populist movies, and so the gap between critical and commercial hits seemed to grow only wider. Audiences weren’t happy.
After facing criticisms that they were shutting out more populist fare, the Academy expanded the Best Picture category to ten nominees (later changed again to be up to ten nominees based on voting) in hopes of allowing for more general audience friendly movies. That move came after a backlash from the lack of love for The Dark Knight, easily one of the best-reviewed films of 2008 yet nowhere to be seen in Best Picture.
While that worked for a while, the Academy fell back into their old ways and faced a new issue over the lack of diversity in both their nominated films and the voters awarding them. The grassroots movement of #OscarsSoWhite gained steam in the industry and became a problem the Academy simply couldn’t ignore. That led to a much-needed diversification of their membership, which has already made an impact through the Oscars, as seen by winners like Get Out and Moonlight.
Yet the Oscars ceremony itself has been losing viewers year after year, with the 2018 ceremony being the lowest-rated yet. Generally speaking, the average movie-goer who sees five or six films a year may not care all that much about the sort of films that win Oscars. Such movies may not even be available to view in their location thanks to the increasingly archaic limited screening model.
Related: Hollywood's Awards Season Elitism is Slowly Killing the Oscars
Crucially, the Academy still remains highly allergic to acknowledging blockbuster and high-concept genre movies. Superhero films are typically ignored, relegated to special effects categories and not much else, regardless of how critically beloved they are. This seems to have weighed heavily on the Academy’s mind, and their solution has been to announce the creation of a Best Popular Film category.
It has not yet been revealed how a movie will be eligible for a Best Popular Film nomination, but the general expectation has been that this category will exist for blockbusters, franchise movies, and otherwise commercially successful movies that don’t fit the typical Oscars mold. This would have been a bad idea in any year, but it feels notable that this has been introduced in 2018 when there is real and growing Oscar talk around a major superhero movie: Black Panther.
THE ACADEMY WANTS AND NEEDS TO ACKNOWLEDGE BLACK PANTHER
By whatever metric you measure success, Black Panther is one of the best movies of 2018. It’s currently the second highest grossing film of the year, with $1.347bn in the bank. It’s one of only three films to pass $700m domestically at the box office. The film has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the 9th highest ranked movie of the year. Oscar talk has been swirling around Ryan Coogler’s entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe since its premiere, and both Disney and Marvel have expressed sentiments in favor of mounting major awards campaigns for the movie. As we head into what is widely considered Oscar season and the expected front-runners premiere on the festival circuit, competition for Best Picture has gotten busier. That seems to have spooked the Academy.
Related: Why Don't Superhero Movies Win Oscars?
The Academy clearly want to appeal to wider audiences. It’s required of them if they want to retain their relevance in an age of expanded universes, Netflix and YouTube. They need people to tune into the ceremony itself, which is their biggest event of the year and one that brings major advertising revenue.
It makes sense on the simplest level to make room for films like Black Panther and give a space to those blockbusters that bring in billions of dollars. Black Panther isn’t just a critical and commercial hit: It’s a cultural phenomenon. That’s worth acknowledging on the prestigious scale the Oscars offer. However, is making a whole new category the right way to do this?
A BEST POPULAR FILM CATEGORY COULD HURT BLACK PANTHER
The risk with a category like this, to the side of Best Picture and marketed specifically as a populist move, is that deserving films will be sidelined as good but not good enough for the true top prize. Black Panther, which is one of the best-reviewed films of the year, could be shoved into the popcorn category at the expense of being nominated for Best Picture. It could also be seen as a catch-all nomination: Give it Best Popular Film and you don’t have to bother nominating anything else connected to the movie, such as Ryan Coogler for Best Director, Michael B. Jordan for Best Supporting Actor, the writers for Best Adapted Screenplay, and so on.
The obvious issue with this set-up is that it implicitly undermines films that are in any way popular, and we still have no idea how the Academy will specifically define a popular film in this context. It could mean almost anything, from the little indie movie that made bank (Get Out) to the family-friendly cartoon (Moana) to the fluffy popcorn fare of the Summer (Mamma Mia – Here We Go Again!). If a film makes over a certain amount of money, does it immediately become popular and therefore in a different category of excellence from the Best Picture nominees?
Related: New Oscar Categories We Want To See More Than "Popular Film"
Ultimately, it’s hard to overlook the cynicism and elitism of a decision like this. It instantly reinforces the outdated notion that something can’t be critically worthy if it’s a mainstream success. Regardless of the earnestness behind such a decision, introducing a whole new category so the Academy won’t have to worry about angering people is a cop-out and it diminishes everyone involved. Clearly, they’re concerned that Black Panther may not make the cut, but rather than waiting to see what happens, they’re putting a safety net in place that’s riddled with holes. The assumption is that fans of Black Panther will be fine with any old award the film gets, even one as blatantly condescending as this. As evidenced by the reactions on social media, this wouldn’t be the case. Audiences know when they’re being talked down to and so do creators.
THE ACADEMY SHOULD EVOLVE WITH AUDIENCES
Blockbusters are the bedrock of Hollywood, whether the Academy likes it or not. Audiences love them, but they’ve also become genuine critical hits over the years. Films like Logan (itself an Oscar nominee), Wonder Woman, and Black Panther are helping to shift perceptions of the genre and redefine it for a new age. It’s not just superhero movies leading the charge either. Think of rousing big-budget action epics like Mad Max: Fury Road (which was nominated for ten Oscars, including Best Picture) or this year’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout, a film as well reviewed as Black Panther. Plenty of critics will have these films on their Top 10 lists of 2018, as will general audiences, yet we’ve all but accepted that most of these films aren’t going to get love beyond that at the Oscars because they aren’t perceived as prestigious. Instead of confronting that bias, the Academy has decided to introduce a category that further strengthens it.
A Best Popular Film category only reinforces the divide between critical and commercial success. It insists that the two concepts are mutually exclusive and that no amount of reviews or audience love can make something like Black Panther worthy of the same level of love as, say, the latest Winston Churchill biopic. If films like Black Panther are left to a side category, what’s to stop Best Picture from becoming clogged up with the same middlebrow prestige fare that audiences are so bored with in the first place?
The thing about Black Panther’s Oscar chances could be completely legitimate if this is something Marvel is willing to campaign behind and ride a wave of cultural impact all the way to the Kodak Theatre. Yet the Academy aren’t even going to give it a chance to prove itself without throwing in a condescending back-up option to prevent an anger that they’ve only exacerbated with this announcement. It's disrespect disguised as its opposite. They haven’t given their younger and more diverse membership the opportunity to vote for the kind of films that wouldn’t usually make the cut, and that’s a major disappointment given how much progress the Academy had made in recent years. Black Panther deserves better, but so do audiences and Hollywood at large.
- BY KAYLEIGH DONALDSON
- – ON AUG 09, 2018
- IN SR ORIGINALS
The Academy’s announcement of a Best Popular Film Oscar hints at wider fears of shutting out blockbusters and superhero films: Is Black Panther the reason for the change?
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, best known as the home of the Oscars, have been struggling to find their place in the world for the past decade. For many years, it was common practice for the Academy to reward mainstream blockbuster movies like Star Wars and Jaws alongside the expected critical favorites like Annie Hall.
Related: Screen Rant's Thoughts On The Oscars & The New "Popular Film" Category
As Hollywood’s priorities changed and the Oscars became a means for indie films to get good publicity, the Academy focused less on populist movies, and so the gap between critical and commercial hits seemed to grow only wider. Audiences weren’t happy.
- This Page: The Problem With the Oscars and The New Best Popular Film Category
- Page 2: The Academy Needs to Acknowledge Black Panther
After facing criticisms that they were shutting out more populist fare, the Academy expanded the Best Picture category to ten nominees (later changed again to be up to ten nominees based on voting) in hopes of allowing for more general audience friendly movies. That move came after a backlash from the lack of love for The Dark Knight, easily one of the best-reviewed films of 2008 yet nowhere to be seen in Best Picture.
While that worked for a while, the Academy fell back into their old ways and faced a new issue over the lack of diversity in both their nominated films and the voters awarding them. The grassroots movement of #OscarsSoWhite gained steam in the industry and became a problem the Academy simply couldn’t ignore. That led to a much-needed diversification of their membership, which has already made an impact through the Oscars, as seen by winners like Get Out and Moonlight.
Yet the Oscars ceremony itself has been losing viewers year after year, with the 2018 ceremony being the lowest-rated yet. Generally speaking, the average movie-goer who sees five or six films a year may not care all that much about the sort of films that win Oscars. Such movies may not even be available to view in their location thanks to the increasingly archaic limited screening model.
Related: Hollywood's Awards Season Elitism is Slowly Killing the Oscars
Crucially, the Academy still remains highly allergic to acknowledging blockbuster and high-concept genre movies. Superhero films are typically ignored, relegated to special effects categories and not much else, regardless of how critically beloved they are. This seems to have weighed heavily on the Academy’s mind, and their solution has been to announce the creation of a Best Popular Film category.
It has not yet been revealed how a movie will be eligible for a Best Popular Film nomination, but the general expectation has been that this category will exist for blockbusters, franchise movies, and otherwise commercially successful movies that don’t fit the typical Oscars mold. This would have been a bad idea in any year, but it feels notable that this has been introduced in 2018 when there is real and growing Oscar talk around a major superhero movie: Black Panther.
THE ACADEMY WANTS AND NEEDS TO ACKNOWLEDGE BLACK PANTHER
By whatever metric you measure success, Black Panther is one of the best movies of 2018. It’s currently the second highest grossing film of the year, with $1.347bn in the bank. It’s one of only three films to pass $700m domestically at the box office. The film has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the 9th highest ranked movie of the year. Oscar talk has been swirling around Ryan Coogler’s entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe since its premiere, and both Disney and Marvel have expressed sentiments in favor of mounting major awards campaigns for the movie. As we head into what is widely considered Oscar season and the expected front-runners premiere on the festival circuit, competition for Best Picture has gotten busier. That seems to have spooked the Academy.
Related: Why Don't Superhero Movies Win Oscars?
The Academy clearly want to appeal to wider audiences. It’s required of them if they want to retain their relevance in an age of expanded universes, Netflix and YouTube. They need people to tune into the ceremony itself, which is their biggest event of the year and one that brings major advertising revenue.
It makes sense on the simplest level to make room for films like Black Panther and give a space to those blockbusters that bring in billions of dollars. Black Panther isn’t just a critical and commercial hit: It’s a cultural phenomenon. That’s worth acknowledging on the prestigious scale the Oscars offer. However, is making a whole new category the right way to do this?
A BEST POPULAR FILM CATEGORY COULD HURT BLACK PANTHER
The risk with a category like this, to the side of Best Picture and marketed specifically as a populist move, is that deserving films will be sidelined as good but not good enough for the true top prize. Black Panther, which is one of the best-reviewed films of the year, could be shoved into the popcorn category at the expense of being nominated for Best Picture. It could also be seen as a catch-all nomination: Give it Best Popular Film and you don’t have to bother nominating anything else connected to the movie, such as Ryan Coogler for Best Director, Michael B. Jordan for Best Supporting Actor, the writers for Best Adapted Screenplay, and so on.
The obvious issue with this set-up is that it implicitly undermines films that are in any way popular, and we still have no idea how the Academy will specifically define a popular film in this context. It could mean almost anything, from the little indie movie that made bank (Get Out) to the family-friendly cartoon (Moana) to the fluffy popcorn fare of the Summer (Mamma Mia – Here We Go Again!). If a film makes over a certain amount of money, does it immediately become popular and therefore in a different category of excellence from the Best Picture nominees?
Related: New Oscar Categories We Want To See More Than "Popular Film"
Ultimately, it’s hard to overlook the cynicism and elitism of a decision like this. It instantly reinforces the outdated notion that something can’t be critically worthy if it’s a mainstream success. Regardless of the earnestness behind such a decision, introducing a whole new category so the Academy won’t have to worry about angering people is a cop-out and it diminishes everyone involved. Clearly, they’re concerned that Black Panther may not make the cut, but rather than waiting to see what happens, they’re putting a safety net in place that’s riddled with holes. The assumption is that fans of Black Panther will be fine with any old award the film gets, even one as blatantly condescending as this. As evidenced by the reactions on social media, this wouldn’t be the case. Audiences know when they’re being talked down to and so do creators.
THE ACADEMY SHOULD EVOLVE WITH AUDIENCES
Blockbusters are the bedrock of Hollywood, whether the Academy likes it or not. Audiences love them, but they’ve also become genuine critical hits over the years. Films like Logan (itself an Oscar nominee), Wonder Woman, and Black Panther are helping to shift perceptions of the genre and redefine it for a new age. It’s not just superhero movies leading the charge either. Think of rousing big-budget action epics like Mad Max: Fury Road (which was nominated for ten Oscars, including Best Picture) or this year’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout, a film as well reviewed as Black Panther. Plenty of critics will have these films on their Top 10 lists of 2018, as will general audiences, yet we’ve all but accepted that most of these films aren’t going to get love beyond that at the Oscars because they aren’t perceived as prestigious. Instead of confronting that bias, the Academy has decided to introduce a category that further strengthens it.
A Best Popular Film category only reinforces the divide between critical and commercial success. It insists that the two concepts are mutually exclusive and that no amount of reviews or audience love can make something like Black Panther worthy of the same level of love as, say, the latest Winston Churchill biopic. If films like Black Panther are left to a side category, what’s to stop Best Picture from becoming clogged up with the same middlebrow prestige fare that audiences are so bored with in the first place?
The thing about Black Panther’s Oscar chances could be completely legitimate if this is something Marvel is willing to campaign behind and ride a wave of cultural impact all the way to the Kodak Theatre. Yet the Academy aren’t even going to give it a chance to prove itself without throwing in a condescending back-up option to prevent an anger that they’ve only exacerbated with this announcement. It's disrespect disguised as its opposite. They haven’t given their younger and more diverse membership the opportunity to vote for the kind of films that wouldn’t usually make the cut, and that’s a major disappointment given how much progress the Academy had made in recent years. Black Panther deserves better, but so do audiences and Hollywood at large.
Academy Members Already Discussing Scrapping Controversial Popular Movie Oscar
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According to a recent report, Academy members have said that they wouldn’t be surprised if the Oscars Popular Filmcategory gets scrapped completely. In early August, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed their plans to instate a new category that would honor “popular films” at the 2019 Oscars. The Academy has been tight-lipped regarding specific details about the new category, but it seems to be tailored for big summer blockbusters and superhero films.
Though the Academy might have had good intentions, the “Popular Film” category wasn’t well received by the public. Many outlets and people on social media have called the "Popular Film" award an insult, while others claim it’s simply the Academy's a feeble attempt to boost dwindling ratings. Whatever the case, the category has become extremely controversial. The Academy hasn’t officially responded to the backlash; however, several Academy members recently shared that they wouldn’t be surprised if the new award gets scrapped.
Related: We Break Down Black Panther's Oscars 2019 Chances
The LA Times recently released an article detailing Black Panther’s hunt for a Best Picture nomination at the 2019 Oscars. In the article, they reference the new Popular Film category as a wildcard that could hurt the film’s hopes for a Best Picture nod. However, many Academy members that they spoke to shared their opinion on whether or not the new award would even be included in future ceremonies. The excerpt from the article reads as follows: "Several academy members say they wouldn’t be surprised if the academy backtracks and delays presenting the award this year or scraps it altogether."
While the Academy hasn’t officially commented on the matter, the above excerpt is very intriguing. By now, the Academy has certainly heard all the complaints surrounding the new category and seem to be debating whether to move forward as planned. Which makes complete sense, since the idea of a Popular Film category is completely divisive and problematic. On one hand, it would be a nice change of pace to see more mainstream films included in future Oscar ceremonies. On the other hand, the whole award could be seen as a consolation prize. If genuinely award worthy films like Black Panther get snubbed for Best Picture, but get placed in the popular film category, it seems like the Academy is just judging films based on genre rather than content.
Apart from the new Popular Film category, the Academy has struggled to understand the current status of film culture. A few years ago, the Oscars were slammed for not being inclusive; however, they have taken steps to rectify that by including more films starring and directed by people of color. Now they face the issue of genre bias by excluding horror, science fiction and superhero films – with a few exceptions. The two problems aren’t comparative when it comes to social importance, though it does speak to how the Academy needs to evolve. Hopefully, the Academy will act accordingly in the face of public concern and start judging the content and importance of a film regardless of what genre it happens to be in.
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- BY SEAN O'DONNELL
- – ON AUG 23, 2018
- IN MOVIE NEWS
According to a recent report, Academy members have said that they wouldn’t be surprised if the Oscars Popular Filmcategory gets scrapped completely. In early August, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed their plans to instate a new category that would honor “popular films” at the 2019 Oscars. The Academy has been tight-lipped regarding specific details about the new category, but it seems to be tailored for big summer blockbusters and superhero films.
Though the Academy might have had good intentions, the “Popular Film” category wasn’t well received by the public. Many outlets and people on social media have called the "Popular Film" award an insult, while others claim it’s simply the Academy's a feeble attempt to boost dwindling ratings. Whatever the case, the category has become extremely controversial. The Academy hasn’t officially responded to the backlash; however, several Academy members recently shared that they wouldn’t be surprised if the new award gets scrapped.
Related: We Break Down Black Panther's Oscars 2019 Chances
The LA Times recently released an article detailing Black Panther’s hunt for a Best Picture nomination at the 2019 Oscars. In the article, they reference the new Popular Film category as a wildcard that could hurt the film’s hopes for a Best Picture nod. However, many Academy members that they spoke to shared their opinion on whether or not the new award would even be included in future ceremonies. The excerpt from the article reads as follows: "Several academy members say they wouldn’t be surprised if the academy backtracks and delays presenting the award this year or scraps it altogether."
While the Academy hasn’t officially commented on the matter, the above excerpt is very intriguing. By now, the Academy has certainly heard all the complaints surrounding the new category and seem to be debating whether to move forward as planned. Which makes complete sense, since the idea of a Popular Film category is completely divisive and problematic. On one hand, it would be a nice change of pace to see more mainstream films included in future Oscar ceremonies. On the other hand, the whole award could be seen as a consolation prize. If genuinely award worthy films like Black Panther get snubbed for Best Picture, but get placed in the popular film category, it seems like the Academy is just judging films based on genre rather than content.
Apart from the new Popular Film category, the Academy has struggled to understand the current status of film culture. A few years ago, the Oscars were slammed for not being inclusive; however, they have taken steps to rectify that by including more films starring and directed by people of color. Now they face the issue of genre bias by excluding horror, science fiction and superhero films – with a few exceptions. The two problems aren’t comparative when it comes to social importance, though it does speak to how the Academy needs to evolve. Hopefully, the Academy will act accordingly in the face of public concern and start judging the content and importance of a film regardless of what genre it happens to be in.
We Break Down Black Panther's Oscars 2019 Chances
ADVERTISING
We're mere days away from the 2018 Oscars, and already the film industry is gearing up for next year's race. Awards campaigning is a year-round commitment in Hollywood, now more so than ever, as the decades-long assumed rules of the system have completely changed - which could mean that Black Panther is in with a shot at next year's awards.
This time last year, if you had told any awards prognosticator that one of the front-runners for Best Picture would be a low-budget satirical horror about race and the hypocrisies of white liberalism - one released in the supposed box office desert that is February, and written and directed by a debut filmmaker who was one half of Key & Peele - you would have been laughed out of the room. Now, Get Out isn’t just the film to root for: It’s helped to shift everything we know about the madness of the Oscar season. Add to that a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for Logan – the first superhero film to do so – and it seems like everything we knew about Oscars could be changing.
This Page: Superhero Movies and The Oscars
NEXT PAGE: WHAT AWARDS COULD BLACK PANTHER WIN?
RELATED: WHEN WILL BLACK PANTHER 2 RELEASE?
BLACK PANTHER HAS CHANGED THE SUPERHERO GAME
As of the writing of this piece, the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has made close to $728m worldwide in just under two weeks. It’s received near universal acclaim, landing a “Certified Fresh” Rotten Tomatoes score of 97%. Ryan Coogler’s masterful adaptation of the Black Panther character isn’t just a critical and commercial smash hit: It’s a cultural moment whose influence will be felt long after the movie has left multiplexes. It doesn’t seem unfeasible that such a film, so beloved and impactful, may stick around long enough to garner some legitimate awards love come the end of 2018. As early as it may seem for us to even be talking about this, the chances are that the executives at Disney have been asking themselves the same question. Why not push Black Panther as a genuine Oscar contender?
The long-accepted status quo of the Academy Awards is that big-budget summer blockbusters don’t win Oscars. The assumption that they are not and cannot be viewed as “prestigious” remains in place, despite countless examples to the contrary. There are “Oscar films” – serious dramas, often period pieces, full of big acting and noble intentions – and then there are the movies for the masses, the ones designed to entertain but never invite consideration of cinematic legitimacy. This wasn’t always the case.
WHY SUPERHERO MOVIES STRUGGLE AT THE OSCARS
Once upon a time, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars were all Best Picture nominees, and it wasn’t unusual for them to be considered alongside Barry Lyndon, Chariots of Fire and Annie Hall. Various forces led to the increasing division between “Oscar bait” and the Lucas-Spielberg pioneered blockbuster film-making. A big reason such films stopped being considered for awards in the ways they used to be is that studios no longer needed promotional boosts like the ones the Academy Awards provided. Star Wars would make money regardless of whether or not it got a Best Picture nomination. Smaller films, more adult-oriented dramas without that international reach, did still desire that push. Studios didn't need to put money behind getting the latest Indiana Jones movie award nominations. That cash could be better served in reaching international markets. Generally speaking, a film's prestige isn't what brings in audiences to the latest multi-million dollar special-effects heavy explosion fest.
This continued well into the mid-2000s, with obvious exceptions like Titanic and The Lord of the Rings, but it wasn’t until the Academy widened the Best Picture category to 10 potential nominees that mainstream blockbuster fare started to be recognized. Inceptiongot a Best Picture nomination, as did Mad Max: Fury Road and Gravity, among others. Most of these films didn’t go home empty handed, particularly in technical categories, but the “bigger” awards eluded them. Their achievements as dazzling spectacles would be rewarded, but not viewed as an overall package of film-making excellence in the way more Oscar friendly movies are. Sure, Mad Max: Fury Road can sweep the technical categories, but you always knew it would never win Best Picture.
Amst this incremental change, there remained a growing gap between the prestigious norm and the new forces of blockbuster cinema: Superhero films didn’t make the cut. It's a repeat of the previous generation in that regard - the next Avengers movie is easily going to make a billion dollars, and it doesn't matter if it is seen as a good film in the eyes of 6000 or so Academy members. It doesn't help that good old fashioned snobbery has kept genre cinema out of the running with the Oscars for decades. Horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and even comedy struggle with this group of voters. Add in lots of special effects and it becomes easy for them to be written off as mere popcorn fare. As those movies have grown in both popularity and quality, it seems inevitable that one will land a Best Picture nomination one day. Even the Academy can't ignore this. Right now, Black Panther feels like the most likely option, and deservedly so.
Cinema is different now, but so is the Academy. After the push back to the institution’s glaring lack of diversity, inspired by the #OscarsSoWhite campaign, they announced plans to double their membership’s female and people of color numbers by 2020. The first fruits of that efforts seemed evident in last year’s Oscars, as Moonlight surprised all predictions to win Best Picture. A 2016 boost in membership numbers saw 683 new additions to their ranks: 46% of them were women, and 41% were people of color. We've no idea how they voted, obviously, but it's not hard to imagine that such a change to the old white male demographics of the Academy had a measurable influence on the awards themselves. These are voters who aren’t as averse to recognizing the merits of superhero cinema like their elders, particularly one with a majority black cast and creative team.
We Break Down Black Panther's Oscars 2019 Chances
WHAT AWARDS COULD BLACK PANTHER WIN?
The Academy is younger now, less white and less male, and their tastes are different to their predecessors. We see that in this year’s nominees. A recent piece by Vultureinterviewed new Academy members on their feelings over the 2018 batch of nominations, and it’s Get Out that seems to have inspired most of them. One anonymous voter asked about the exclusion of Wonder Woman, a hotly hyped film that was also a cultural milestone of 2017 and had a major awards push behind it, yet it failed to land a single nomination. The absence of Wonder Woman is something that feels glaring in the context of discussing Black Panther – if that movie of the moment couldn’t get in, why would this one? – but it’s worth remembering that the latter was more strongly received critically than the former.
Black Panther definitely has strong chances of awards acclaim in various categories. Costume designer Ruth E. Carter has received universal acclaim for her work on the film, and she's already been nominated for Best Costume Design in the past thanks to her work on Malcolm X and Amistad. Cinematographer Rachel Morrison just made history by becoming the first woman to be nominated in the Best Cinematography category for Mudbound, and her work in Black Panther has been equally as acclaimed. Superhero films are more likely to be found in the special effects category, and it would be a deserved nomination to see this film repeat that. This year, Logan landed a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, which presented major change in the way the Academy sees superhero films. The screenplay by director Coogler and Joe Robert Cole could easily be pushed for consideration next year too. It's certainly good enough and avoids many of the structural pitfalls superhero films are prone to.
CAN BLACK PANTHER RUN AN OSCARS RACE?
Talking about its Best Picture and Best Director chances this early in the year has its problems, mainly that we’ve no idea who the competition is. It could be a crowded year for the category or it could empty up enough to make Black Panther’s chances even better. A lot of this will be dependent on if Disney give it a proper awards push. They’ve seemed hesitant to do this with their major movies over the past few years, except in those tech categories. Even when Star Wars: The Last Jedi got rave reviews and had real potential for an awards run, they seemed to hold off on doing so outside of technical categories.
That could change with Black Panther. Here is a film that not only cost a little more than their typical Marvel movie, but they also put a lot into its marketing, to ensure that its presence couldn't be missed. Couple that financial venture with the massive payoffs, and it would seem like a good investment to keep it going into awards season. Disney have the money, the clout and the fan support to pull it off. A Best Picture Oscar nomination for a superhero movie would be the cherry on top of the cake of their continuing worldwide domination.
Black Panther doesn’t necessarily need awards. It already has record breaking box office numbers, critical adoration and wildly enthusiastic fans to its name, and that doesn’t even include the sheer cultural impact it’s made in such a short amount of time. By all measurements of success, Black Panther is one. Yet it seems like this block we have in terms of cinema – the idea that the biggest, most popular films in the world can never be viewed in terms of prestige or quality – remains in place.
It’s time the Academy caught up on this front, and this would be the perfect – and well deserved – film to do that with. It’s not set in stone, but the Oscar game has changed a lot over the past couple of years, and Black Panther being a top awards winner is, delightfully, more likely than ever.
ADVERTISING
- BY KAYLEIGH DONALDSON
- – ON MAR 03, 2018
- IN SR ORIGINALS
We're mere days away from the 2018 Oscars, and already the film industry is gearing up for next year's race. Awards campaigning is a year-round commitment in Hollywood, now more so than ever, as the decades-long assumed rules of the system have completely changed - which could mean that Black Panther is in with a shot at next year's awards.
This time last year, if you had told any awards prognosticator that one of the front-runners for Best Picture would be a low-budget satirical horror about race and the hypocrisies of white liberalism - one released in the supposed box office desert that is February, and written and directed by a debut filmmaker who was one half of Key & Peele - you would have been laughed out of the room. Now, Get Out isn’t just the film to root for: It’s helped to shift everything we know about the madness of the Oscar season. Add to that a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for Logan – the first superhero film to do so – and it seems like everything we knew about Oscars could be changing.
This Page: Superhero Movies and The Oscars
NEXT PAGE: WHAT AWARDS COULD BLACK PANTHER WIN?
RELATED: WHEN WILL BLACK PANTHER 2 RELEASE?
BLACK PANTHER HAS CHANGED THE SUPERHERO GAME
As of the writing of this piece, the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has made close to $728m worldwide in just under two weeks. It’s received near universal acclaim, landing a “Certified Fresh” Rotten Tomatoes score of 97%. Ryan Coogler’s masterful adaptation of the Black Panther character isn’t just a critical and commercial smash hit: It’s a cultural moment whose influence will be felt long after the movie has left multiplexes. It doesn’t seem unfeasible that such a film, so beloved and impactful, may stick around long enough to garner some legitimate awards love come the end of 2018. As early as it may seem for us to even be talking about this, the chances are that the executives at Disney have been asking themselves the same question. Why not push Black Panther as a genuine Oscar contender?
The long-accepted status quo of the Academy Awards is that big-budget summer blockbusters don’t win Oscars. The assumption that they are not and cannot be viewed as “prestigious” remains in place, despite countless examples to the contrary. There are “Oscar films” – serious dramas, often period pieces, full of big acting and noble intentions – and then there are the movies for the masses, the ones designed to entertain but never invite consideration of cinematic legitimacy. This wasn’t always the case.
WHY SUPERHERO MOVIES STRUGGLE AT THE OSCARS
Once upon a time, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars were all Best Picture nominees, and it wasn’t unusual for them to be considered alongside Barry Lyndon, Chariots of Fire and Annie Hall. Various forces led to the increasing division between “Oscar bait” and the Lucas-Spielberg pioneered blockbuster film-making. A big reason such films stopped being considered for awards in the ways they used to be is that studios no longer needed promotional boosts like the ones the Academy Awards provided. Star Wars would make money regardless of whether or not it got a Best Picture nomination. Smaller films, more adult-oriented dramas without that international reach, did still desire that push. Studios didn't need to put money behind getting the latest Indiana Jones movie award nominations. That cash could be better served in reaching international markets. Generally speaking, a film's prestige isn't what brings in audiences to the latest multi-million dollar special-effects heavy explosion fest.
This continued well into the mid-2000s, with obvious exceptions like Titanic and The Lord of the Rings, but it wasn’t until the Academy widened the Best Picture category to 10 potential nominees that mainstream blockbuster fare started to be recognized. Inceptiongot a Best Picture nomination, as did Mad Max: Fury Road and Gravity, among others. Most of these films didn’t go home empty handed, particularly in technical categories, but the “bigger” awards eluded them. Their achievements as dazzling spectacles would be rewarded, but not viewed as an overall package of film-making excellence in the way more Oscar friendly movies are. Sure, Mad Max: Fury Road can sweep the technical categories, but you always knew it would never win Best Picture.
Amst this incremental change, there remained a growing gap between the prestigious norm and the new forces of blockbuster cinema: Superhero films didn’t make the cut. It's a repeat of the previous generation in that regard - the next Avengers movie is easily going to make a billion dollars, and it doesn't matter if it is seen as a good film in the eyes of 6000 or so Academy members. It doesn't help that good old fashioned snobbery has kept genre cinema out of the running with the Oscars for decades. Horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and even comedy struggle with this group of voters. Add in lots of special effects and it becomes easy for them to be written off as mere popcorn fare. As those movies have grown in both popularity and quality, it seems inevitable that one will land a Best Picture nomination one day. Even the Academy can't ignore this. Right now, Black Panther feels like the most likely option, and deservedly so.
Cinema is different now, but so is the Academy. After the push back to the institution’s glaring lack of diversity, inspired by the #OscarsSoWhite campaign, they announced plans to double their membership’s female and people of color numbers by 2020. The first fruits of that efforts seemed evident in last year’s Oscars, as Moonlight surprised all predictions to win Best Picture. A 2016 boost in membership numbers saw 683 new additions to their ranks: 46% of them were women, and 41% were people of color. We've no idea how they voted, obviously, but it's not hard to imagine that such a change to the old white male demographics of the Academy had a measurable influence on the awards themselves. These are voters who aren’t as averse to recognizing the merits of superhero cinema like their elders, particularly one with a majority black cast and creative team.
We Break Down Black Panther's Oscars 2019 Chances
- BY KAYLEIGH DONALDSON
- – ON MAR 03, 2018
- IN SR ORIGINALS
WHAT AWARDS COULD BLACK PANTHER WIN?
The Academy is younger now, less white and less male, and their tastes are different to their predecessors. We see that in this year’s nominees. A recent piece by Vultureinterviewed new Academy members on their feelings over the 2018 batch of nominations, and it’s Get Out that seems to have inspired most of them. One anonymous voter asked about the exclusion of Wonder Woman, a hotly hyped film that was also a cultural milestone of 2017 and had a major awards push behind it, yet it failed to land a single nomination. The absence of Wonder Woman is something that feels glaring in the context of discussing Black Panther – if that movie of the moment couldn’t get in, why would this one? – but it’s worth remembering that the latter was more strongly received critically than the former.
Black Panther definitely has strong chances of awards acclaim in various categories. Costume designer Ruth E. Carter has received universal acclaim for her work on the film, and she's already been nominated for Best Costume Design in the past thanks to her work on Malcolm X and Amistad. Cinematographer Rachel Morrison just made history by becoming the first woman to be nominated in the Best Cinematography category for Mudbound, and her work in Black Panther has been equally as acclaimed. Superhero films are more likely to be found in the special effects category, and it would be a deserved nomination to see this film repeat that. This year, Logan landed a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, which presented major change in the way the Academy sees superhero films. The screenplay by director Coogler and Joe Robert Cole could easily be pushed for consideration next year too. It's certainly good enough and avoids many of the structural pitfalls superhero films are prone to.
CAN BLACK PANTHER RUN AN OSCARS RACE?
Talking about its Best Picture and Best Director chances this early in the year has its problems, mainly that we’ve no idea who the competition is. It could be a crowded year for the category or it could empty up enough to make Black Panther’s chances even better. A lot of this will be dependent on if Disney give it a proper awards push. They’ve seemed hesitant to do this with their major movies over the past few years, except in those tech categories. Even when Star Wars: The Last Jedi got rave reviews and had real potential for an awards run, they seemed to hold off on doing so outside of technical categories.
That could change with Black Panther. Here is a film that not only cost a little more than their typical Marvel movie, but they also put a lot into its marketing, to ensure that its presence couldn't be missed. Couple that financial venture with the massive payoffs, and it would seem like a good investment to keep it going into awards season. Disney have the money, the clout and the fan support to pull it off. A Best Picture Oscar nomination for a superhero movie would be the cherry on top of the cake of their continuing worldwide domination.
Black Panther doesn’t necessarily need awards. It already has record breaking box office numbers, critical adoration and wildly enthusiastic fans to its name, and that doesn’t even include the sheer cultural impact it’s made in such a short amount of time. By all measurements of success, Black Panther is one. Yet it seems like this block we have in terms of cinema – the idea that the biggest, most popular films in the world can never be viewed in terms of prestige or quality – remains in place.
It’s time the Academy caught up on this front, and this would be the perfect – and well deserved – film to do that with. It’s not set in stone, but the Oscar game has changed a lot over the past couple of years, and Black Panther being a top awards winner is, delightfully, more likely than ever.
Fan Translates Briefly Visible Wakandan Text on Black Panther's Suit
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The hidden message on T'Challa's kinetic suit in Black Panther has been revealed, and it pays homage to his mother, Queen Ramonda. Marvel Studios had been teasing the existence of the Kingdom of Wakanda since 2010's Iron Man 2, but it wasn't until 2016 when fans saw a glimpse of the then-hidden nation during the post-credits scene of Captain America: Civil War. Earlier this year, director Ryan Coogler finally opened the doors to the mysterious paradise in T'Challa's origin story, as he proved himself the rightful king of the country.
Serving as the backdrop of two of big action set pieces in Avengers: Infinity War, Wakanda was where many of the MCU heroes converged as they attempted to foil Thanos' plans of wiping out half of the life in the universe in the hopes of balancing it. By the end of the film, the Mad Titan successfully enacted his mission, resulting in the "death"of countless life forms in the galaxy, including T'Challa. But while the whole country will undoubtedly mourn their king's "demise," the tragedy will be more difficult for his mother, Ramonda, especially given their close relationship, as highlighted by this newly found Easter egg in Black Panther.
Related: Robert Downey Jr. Marvel Set Interview May Reveal Avengers 4 Spoiler
With T'Challa currently gone, it's uncertain how Wakanda will handle another crisis, just two years after Killmonger's failed take over. Now, the responsibility to lead the people of the nation lies on the shoulders of Shuri and Queen Ramonda, who both survived Thanos' snap. It's also expected that the Dora Milaje, with the leadership of Okoye and M'Baku's Jabari tribe, will help T'Challa's sister and mother to run the country. But while it's relatively easier to find people who can safeguard the kingdom's throne during the king's absence, it's more curious to know if there will be anyone to replace him as the Black Panther in the meantime. Shuri has donned the suit in print before, and many would undoubtedly be thrilled to see her take over the mantle on the big screen, but it's unclear whether or not that's the character trajectory that Marvel Studios wants for her.
However things pan out for Wakanda, one thing's for sure, the technologically-advanced nation is poised to play a huge role post-Infinity War. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo previously said that Wakanda is "essential" to dealing with the aftermath of Thanos' snap, which led many to believe that that country will still be a major hub for the remaining heroes as they gear up to take down the Mad Titan once and for all in Avengers 4.
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- BY ANA DUMARAOG
- – ON AUG 24, 2018
- IN MOVIE NEWS
The hidden message on T'Challa's kinetic suit in Black Panther has been revealed, and it pays homage to his mother, Queen Ramonda. Marvel Studios had been teasing the existence of the Kingdom of Wakanda since 2010's Iron Man 2, but it wasn't until 2016 when fans saw a glimpse of the then-hidden nation during the post-credits scene of Captain America: Civil War. Earlier this year, director Ryan Coogler finally opened the doors to the mysterious paradise in T'Challa's origin story, as he proved himself the rightful king of the country.
Serving as the backdrop of two of big action set pieces in Avengers: Infinity War, Wakanda was where many of the MCU heroes converged as they attempted to foil Thanos' plans of wiping out half of the life in the universe in the hopes of balancing it. By the end of the film, the Mad Titan successfully enacted his mission, resulting in the "death"of countless life forms in the galaxy, including T'Challa. But while the whole country will undoubtedly mourn their king's "demise," the tragedy will be more difficult for his mother, Ramonda, especially given their close relationship, as highlighted by this newly found Easter egg in Black Panther.
Related: Robert Downey Jr. Marvel Set Interview May Reveal Avengers 4 Spoiler
A Reddit user with the handle thecruiser successfully decoded the Wakandan message that can be briefly seen on T'Challa's kinetic Black Panther suit made by Shuri. During a scene in the Coogler movie where the Wakandan princess presented her brother with her latest creation, there was a brief moment where the costume lights up revealing the message "I Love You Mom." It's a small detail but it offers a better perspective on Shuri and T'Challa's relationship with Queen Ramonda. Looked at from outside the film, the message could also be interpreted as being from Coogler to his own mother.
With T'Challa currently gone, it's uncertain how Wakanda will handle another crisis, just two years after Killmonger's failed take over. Now, the responsibility to lead the people of the nation lies on the shoulders of Shuri and Queen Ramonda, who both survived Thanos' snap. It's also expected that the Dora Milaje, with the leadership of Okoye and M'Baku's Jabari tribe, will help T'Challa's sister and mother to run the country. But while it's relatively easier to find people who can safeguard the kingdom's throne during the king's absence, it's more curious to know if there will be anyone to replace him as the Black Panther in the meantime. Shuri has donned the suit in print before, and many would undoubtedly be thrilled to see her take over the mantle on the big screen, but it's unclear whether or not that's the character trajectory that Marvel Studios wants for her.
However things pan out for Wakanda, one thing's for sure, the technologically-advanced nation is poised to play a huge role post-Infinity War. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo previously said that Wakanda is "essential" to dealing with the aftermath of Thanos' snap, which led many to believe that that country will still be a major hub for the remaining heroes as they gear up to take down the Mad Titan once and for all in Avengers 4.
Chadwick Boseman Wants Best Picture Oscar For Black Panther, Not Popular Film
Actor Chadwick Boseman says he wants Black Panther to win the Best Picture Oscar, not the Popular Film award. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences added the "outstanding achievement in popular film" category this year, but have yet to announce the criteria. Nobody knows how nominees will be decided, or whether or not it's an insult to be recognized in this new category. Still, Boseman has made it clear that he has a certain preference when it comes to his film Black Panther.
Many would argue that Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is the most popular film of 2018 and perhaps even the most popular film in the MCU, breaking box office records throughout its theatrical run. The film inspired a huge cultural movement around Wakanda and all that the hero Black Panther represents, not only in the United States, but around the world. It would make sense, then, that many would think of Black Panther when the Academy announced its plans for its newest popular film category this summer. And for the first time, Marvel Studios is putting together a serious awards campaign in an attempt to get Black Panther the accolades it deserves.
Related: Are The Oscars Scared of Disrespecting Black Panther?
But according to Black Panther’s lead actor Chadwick Boseman in an interview with THR, the film is Best Picture material only. The actor explained, “We don't know what it [the new prize] is, so I don't know whether to be happy about it or not. What I can say is that there's no campaign [that we are mounting] for popular film; like, if there's a campaign, it's for best picture, and that's all there is to it.” Later on in the interview, Boseman further spoke to why in his mind, Black Panther should only be considered for the Best Picture category.
“What we did was very difficult. We created a world, we created a culture ... we had to create a religion, a spirituality, a politics; we had to create an accent; we had to pull from different cultures to create clothing styles and hair styles. It's very much like a period piece. ... So, as far as that's concerned, I dare any movie to try to compare to the [level of] difficulty of this one. And the fact that so many people liked it — if you just say it's [merely] popular, that's elitist.”
The film industry reacted violently to the Academy’s plans for the new category. Many think negatively of the popular film award, arguing that it is an insult to audiences and filmmakers alike and that the move reflects the Academy’s attempts to cater to popular audiences and drive viewership to its televised awards ceremony, which has seen a marked decline in viewers over the years. Others, such as Mark Wahlberg or Jason Blum, have made efforts to openly support the category and urge others not to judge it too quickly. The conversation has grown so heated within the industry that the Academy is already considering scrapping the plans for the new category completely.
Ever since plans for the popular film award was announced, everybody’s attention turned to Black Panther, a movie that many believe would be a shoo-in for a nomination and win in the category. But as Boseman’s comments point out, a lot went into this film that some Academy voters might push aside as a “simple” popular comic book flick. The issue also raises the question – even if Black Panther was the most popular film of the year, does that mean it is undeserving of the Best Picture award?
Black Panther sparked important cultural and political discussions after its release due to its illumination of certain social issues. Now, it is at the center of an entirely new debate: the politics of Hollywood’s awards season. If the Academy decides to keep its new category in “outstanding achievement in popular film”, there’s no doubt that it will be very interesting watching what films get nominated for which categories and who the winner of this brand new category will end up being – and perhaps most importantly, what exactly that win will mean for the film industry as a whole moving into the future.
Actor Chadwick Boseman says he wants Black Panther to win the Best Picture Oscar, not the Popular Film award. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences added the "outstanding achievement in popular film" category this year, but have yet to announce the criteria. Nobody knows how nominees will be decided, or whether or not it's an insult to be recognized in this new category. Still, Boseman has made it clear that he has a certain preference when it comes to his film Black Panther.
Many would argue that Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is the most popular film of 2018 and perhaps even the most popular film in the MCU, breaking box office records throughout its theatrical run. The film inspired a huge cultural movement around Wakanda and all that the hero Black Panther represents, not only in the United States, but around the world. It would make sense, then, that many would think of Black Panther when the Academy announced its plans for its newest popular film category this summer. And for the first time, Marvel Studios is putting together a serious awards campaign in an attempt to get Black Panther the accolades it deserves.
Related: Are The Oscars Scared of Disrespecting Black Panther?
But according to Black Panther’s lead actor Chadwick Boseman in an interview with THR, the film is Best Picture material only. The actor explained, “We don't know what it [the new prize] is, so I don't know whether to be happy about it or not. What I can say is that there's no campaign [that we are mounting] for popular film; like, if there's a campaign, it's for best picture, and that's all there is to it.” Later on in the interview, Boseman further spoke to why in his mind, Black Panther should only be considered for the Best Picture category.
“What we did was very difficult. We created a world, we created a culture ... we had to create a religion, a spirituality, a politics; we had to create an accent; we had to pull from different cultures to create clothing styles and hair styles. It's very much like a period piece. ... So, as far as that's concerned, I dare any movie to try to compare to the [level of] difficulty of this one. And the fact that so many people liked it — if you just say it's [merely] popular, that's elitist.”
The film industry reacted violently to the Academy’s plans for the new category. Many think negatively of the popular film award, arguing that it is an insult to audiences and filmmakers alike and that the move reflects the Academy’s attempts to cater to popular audiences and drive viewership to its televised awards ceremony, which has seen a marked decline in viewers over the years. Others, such as Mark Wahlberg or Jason Blum, have made efforts to openly support the category and urge others not to judge it too quickly. The conversation has grown so heated within the industry that the Academy is already considering scrapping the plans for the new category completely.
Ever since plans for the popular film award was announced, everybody’s attention turned to Black Panther, a movie that many believe would be a shoo-in for a nomination and win in the category. But as Boseman’s comments point out, a lot went into this film that some Academy voters might push aside as a “simple” popular comic book flick. The issue also raises the question – even if Black Panther was the most popular film of the year, does that mean it is undeserving of the Best Picture award?
Black Panther sparked important cultural and political discussions after its release due to its illumination of certain social issues. Now, it is at the center of an entirely new debate: the politics of Hollywood’s awards season. If the Academy decides to keep its new category in “outstanding achievement in popular film”, there’s no doubt that it will be very interesting watching what films get nominated for which categories and who the winner of this brand new category will end up being – and perhaps most importantly, what exactly that win will mean for the film industry as a whole moving into the future.
Wakandans nearly had British accents in Black Panther movie
By Justina Terhember | Published Date September 8, 2018
The Wakandan characters in Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’ spoke to each other in a distinctive accent that was faint enough to be understood by movie-goers. Some characters spoke in an accent identified as being based on South Africa’s Xhosa, and some even the Igbo accent, from Nigeria (like fan-favorite M’Baku). But in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, star Chadwick Boseman revealed that one of the early possibilities for the conception of his character T’Challa, who was introduced in 2016’s ‘Captain America: Civil War’.
Boseman explained that, while he favored an African accent for the character, Marvel initially proposed that Wakandans would have a British sound. “They felt that it was maybe too much for an audience to take,” he said. “I felt the exact opposite – like, if I speak with a British accent, what’s gonna happen when I go home? It felt to me like a deal-breaker.”
To get the right quality for his accent, Boseman worked with a dialect coach, and the voice of every Wakandan character seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has followed suit.
‘Black Panther’ was co-written and directed by the 32-year-old Ryan Coogler, and is the 18th installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and, significantly, the first Marvel film to center on a black superhero and feature a predominantly black cast. Made for $200 million, it debuted in the U.S. on Jan. 29 2017, and logged what was then the fifth-highest-grossing (and is now the sixth-highest-grossing) opening weekend in history, with a haul of $202 million – and then remained atop the box-office charts for the next four weekends.
It now stands as 2018’s highest-grossing movie domestically, with grosses totalling $700 million, and the year’s second-highest-grossing movie worldwide, having taken in $1.3 billion (behind only another Marvel film, Avengers: Infinity War). And, with a 97% favorable rating on RottenTomatoes.com, it is also one of the year’s 10 best-reviewed films.
Much of ‘Black Panther’s success is attributable to the commanding performance by Boseman as T’Challa, the king who suits up and becomes, when necessary, Black Panther.
By Justina Terhember | Published Date September 8, 2018
The Wakandan characters in Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’ spoke to each other in a distinctive accent that was faint enough to be understood by movie-goers. Some characters spoke in an accent identified as being based on South Africa’s Xhosa, and some even the Igbo accent, from Nigeria (like fan-favorite M’Baku). But in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, star Chadwick Boseman revealed that one of the early possibilities for the conception of his character T’Challa, who was introduced in 2016’s ‘Captain America: Civil War’.
Boseman explained that, while he favored an African accent for the character, Marvel initially proposed that Wakandans would have a British sound. “They felt that it was maybe too much for an audience to take,” he said. “I felt the exact opposite – like, if I speak with a British accent, what’s gonna happen when I go home? It felt to me like a deal-breaker.”
To get the right quality for his accent, Boseman worked with a dialect coach, and the voice of every Wakandan character seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has followed suit.
‘Black Panther’ was co-written and directed by the 32-year-old Ryan Coogler, and is the 18th installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and, significantly, the first Marvel film to center on a black superhero and feature a predominantly black cast. Made for $200 million, it debuted in the U.S. on Jan. 29 2017, and logged what was then the fifth-highest-grossing (and is now the sixth-highest-grossing) opening weekend in history, with a haul of $202 million – and then remained atop the box-office charts for the next four weekends.
It now stands as 2018’s highest-grossing movie domestically, with grosses totalling $700 million, and the year’s second-highest-grossing movie worldwide, having taken in $1.3 billion (behind only another Marvel film, Avengers: Infinity War). And, with a 97% favorable rating on RottenTomatoes.com, it is also one of the year’s 10 best-reviewed films.
Much of ‘Black Panther’s success is attributable to the commanding performance by Boseman as T’Challa, the king who suits up and becomes, when necessary, Black Panther.
https://screenrant.com/black-panther-avengers-leader-comic-mcu/
Black Panther Leads New Avengers - How Long For The MCU?
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Warning: SPOILERS for Avengers #8
Black Panther has been chosen as the long overdue leader of Marvel's Avengers - which makes the fact that he was killed off in the Marvel movies even harder to swallow. But will T-Challa someday utter the famous "Avengers Assemble!" in the MCU, too?
Jason Aaron's Avengers run continues to be unlike anything comic readers have seen before. The new team line-up includes stalwarts Captain America, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, and Thor, but they've been joined by some more unusual members, namely Black Panther, She-Hulk, Doctor Strange, and Robbie Reyes's Ghost Rider. Marvel Comics is always keen to tie into the movies at every opportunity, so it's hardly a surprise that some of these characters are expected to be major figures in the future of the MCU.
Related: Marvel Comics To Reveal The Avengers' Secret History
The Avengers' first mission saw them battling to save the planet from the Final Host, a brutal army of Celestials. Now the team is pausing to catch its breath, and to settle into their new Antarctic base. Along the way, they decide on a new chairperson; and the outcome is unanimous. They vote for Black Panther. Although T'Challa is wary, warning that the King of Wakanda being in charge of the Avengers will cause some political tension, the Avengers aren't concerned about the political tensions that might arise. In Captain America's view, the Avengers need new leadership for a new age. And in Thor's opinion, T'Challa "has earned such an honor many times over."
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Of course, from an out-of-universe perspective there's one simple reason Black Panther has become leader of the Avengers: he's becoming one of Marvel's biggest stars. The success of the Black Panther movie took even Marvel by surprise, officially becoming the highest-grossing superhero movie of all time in the domestic market. In recognition of the film's influence, cultural relevance and popularity, Disney has submitted Black Panther for all Oscars categories, including Best Picture. With Phase 1 leads like Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Evans expected to bow out after Avengers 4, it's extremely likely that Black Panther will become one of the MCU's leading heroes. So it's no surprise to see Marvel Comics also giving T'Challa a bigger pieces of the spotlight (and understandably hoping Black Panther comics will sell off the back of the hero's big-screen success).
But it raises an interesting question: will Marvel take the same approach in films just as easily? Ensemble Avengers films are likely to be a little rarer after Phase 3, simply because there are so many characters and concepts to toss into them. But for all the logistical and plotting difficulties involved, these team-up movies are still blockbuster hits on a near-unprecedented scale, and they're sure to continue.
If there is indeed another Avengers film, it would make sense for T'Challa to take charge of the team. Especially if Captain America's days are numbered, and there's a case to be made that it's time for Iron Man to die in Avengers 4. Marvel Comics may well have just set a precedent that the MCU will follow in the years to come... if they weren't headed that direction already.
The Avengers #8 is available now from Marvel Comics.
Black Panther Leads New Avengers - How Long For The MCU?
- BY THOMAS BACON
- – ON SEP 19, 2018
- IN COMICS
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Warning: SPOILERS for Avengers #8
Black Panther has been chosen as the long overdue leader of Marvel's Avengers - which makes the fact that he was killed off in the Marvel movies even harder to swallow. But will T-Challa someday utter the famous "Avengers Assemble!" in the MCU, too?
Jason Aaron's Avengers run continues to be unlike anything comic readers have seen before. The new team line-up includes stalwarts Captain America, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, and Thor, but they've been joined by some more unusual members, namely Black Panther, She-Hulk, Doctor Strange, and Robbie Reyes's Ghost Rider. Marvel Comics is always keen to tie into the movies at every opportunity, so it's hardly a surprise that some of these characters are expected to be major figures in the future of the MCU.
Related: Marvel Comics To Reveal The Avengers' Secret History
The Avengers' first mission saw them battling to save the planet from the Final Host, a brutal army of Celestials. Now the team is pausing to catch its breath, and to settle into their new Antarctic base. Along the way, they decide on a new chairperson; and the outcome is unanimous. They vote for Black Panther. Although T'Challa is wary, warning that the King of Wakanda being in charge of the Avengers will cause some political tension, the Avengers aren't concerned about the political tensions that might arise. In Captain America's view, the Avengers need new leadership for a new age. And in Thor's opinion, T'Challa "has earned such an honor many times over."
ADVERTISING
Of course, from an out-of-universe perspective there's one simple reason Black Panther has become leader of the Avengers: he's becoming one of Marvel's biggest stars. The success of the Black Panther movie took even Marvel by surprise, officially becoming the highest-grossing superhero movie of all time in the domestic market. In recognition of the film's influence, cultural relevance and popularity, Disney has submitted Black Panther for all Oscars categories, including Best Picture. With Phase 1 leads like Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Evans expected to bow out after Avengers 4, it's extremely likely that Black Panther will become one of the MCU's leading heroes. So it's no surprise to see Marvel Comics also giving T'Challa a bigger pieces of the spotlight (and understandably hoping Black Panther comics will sell off the back of the hero's big-screen success).
But it raises an interesting question: will Marvel take the same approach in films just as easily? Ensemble Avengers films are likely to be a little rarer after Phase 3, simply because there are so many characters and concepts to toss into them. But for all the logistical and plotting difficulties involved, these team-up movies are still blockbuster hits on a near-unprecedented scale, and they're sure to continue.
If there is indeed another Avengers film, it would make sense for T'Challa to take charge of the team. Especially if Captain America's days are numbered, and there's a case to be made that it's time for Iron Man to die in Avengers 4. Marvel Comics may well have just set a precedent that the MCU will follow in the years to come... if they weren't headed that direction already.
The Avengers #8 is available now from Marvel Comics.
“They’re all beating us: China, Japan, Wakanda. Wakanda is laughing at us. They’ve got flying cars, people, in Wakanda,” he said, belatedly citing the fictional country's "flying cars."
https://www.bgol.us/forum/threads/any-screenwriters-on-the-board.287804/page-8#post-19602368
Black Panther screenplay - not a download, can only be read online.
https://waltdisneystudiosawards.com/media/scripts/black-panther/
http://transcripts.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Panther
https://www.scripts.com/script-pdf/4193 (PDF)
Black Panther screenplay - not a download, can only be read online.
https://waltdisneystudiosawards.com/media/scripts/black-panther/
http://transcripts.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Panther
https://www.scripts.com/script-pdf/4193 (PDF)