Chadwick Boseman Black Panther: Telling African Story in Hollywood

SUPER SATURDAY 

Adedayo Adejobi writes about the new Marvel box-office movie, ‘’Black Panther’’, which has grossed over $491m since its release last week in Los Angeles, exploring its cultural significance and professional implications for black artistes in Hollywood 

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After the events of Captain America: Civil War, King T’Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country’s new leader. However, T’Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne from factions within his own country. When two foes conspire to destroy Wakanda, the hero known as ‘Black Panther’ must team up with a CIA agent, Everett K. Ross, and members of the Dora Milaje, Wakandan Special Forces, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war.

Centuries ago, five African tribes war over a meteorite containing vibranium. One warrior ingests a “heart-shaped herb” affected by the metal and gains superhuman abilities, becoming the first ‘Black Panther’. He unites all but the Jabari Tribe to form the nation of Wakanda. The Wakandans use the vibranium to develop advanced technology and isolate themselves from the world by posing as a Third World country.fter the events of Captain America: Civil War, King T’Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country’s new leader. However, T’Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne from factions within his own country. When two foes conspire to destroy Wakanda, the hero known as ‘Black Panther’ must team up with a CIA agent, Everett K. Ross, and members of the Dora Milaje, Wakandan Special Forces, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war.

After a folktale-like prologue that recounts the history of the fictional African nation of Wakanda, Black Panther opens with a flashback to 1992, when a younger T’Chaka (Atandwa Kani) makes a surprise visit to Oakland, California, to confront a rogue Wakandan spy.

Back to the present, T’Challa – Chadwick Boseman – is preparing for his coronation day, which includes a potential challenge – through ritual combat – from any of Wakanda’s five tribes, as well as a sacred ceremony in which he officially becomes the nation’s Black Panther. After T’Challa takes the throne, intelligence surfaces that notorious arms dealer, Ulysses Klaue, has stolen a vibranium artifact from the British Museum. T’Challa takes his top warrior – head of the royal guard – General Okoye and his former love, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), a Wakandan spy, to attempt to capture Klaue one of the few outsiders who knows the truth about how much vibranium – the most valuable metal on earth – is available in Wakanda. But the CIA operative Ross and Klaue’s mysterious young ally complicate the mission. It turns out that the mystery man is a former SEAL who has a very personal score to settle with T’Challa and the Wakandans.

A firefight erupts and Klaue attempts to flee but is caught by T’Challa, who reluctantly releases him into Ross’ custody. Klaue tells Ross that Wakanda’s international image is a front for a technologically advanced civilization. Erik attacks and extracts Klaue as Ross is severely injured protecting Nakia. Rather than pursue Klaue, T’Challa takes Ross to Wakanda where their technology can save him.

While Shuri heals Ross, T’Challa confronts Zuri about N’Jobu. Zuri explains that N’Jobu planned to share Wakanda’s technology with people of African descent around the world to help them conquer their oppressors. As T’Chaka arrested N’Jobu, N’Jobu attacked Zuri, forcing T’Chaka to kill him. T’Chaka ordered Zuri to lie that N’Jobu had disappeared and left behind N’Jobu’s American son, Erik, in order to maintain the lie. Erik became a U.S. black ops soldier, adopting the name, “Killmonger”. Meanwhile, Killmonger kills Klaue and takes his body to Wakanda. He is brought before the tribal elders, revealing his identity and claim to the throne.

Killmonger challenges T’Challa to ritual combat; after killing Zuri, he defeats T’Challa and hurls him over a waterfall. After ingesting the heart-shaped herb, Killmonger orders the rest incinerated, but Nakia extracts one first. Killmonger, supported by W’Kabi and his army, prepares to distribute shipments of Wakandan weapons to operatives around the world.

Nakia, Shuri, Ramonda and Ross flee to the Jabari Tribe for aid. They find a comatose T’Challa, rescued by the Jabari in repayment for sparing M’Baku’s life. Healed by Nakia’s herb, T’Challa returns to fight Killmonger, who dons his own Black Panther suit and commands W’Kabi and his army to attack T’Challa. Shuri, Nakia, and the Dora Milaje join T’Challa, while Ross remotely pilots a jet and shoots down the planes carrying the vibranium weapons. M’Baku and the Jabari arrive to reinforce T’Challa. Confronted by Okoye, W’Kabi and his army stand down. Fighting in Wakanda’s vibranium mine, T’Challa disrupts Killmonger’s suit and stabs him. Killmonger refuses to be healed, choosing to die a free man rather than be incarcerated.

T’Challa establishes an outreach centre at the building where N’Jobu died to be run by Nakia and Shuri. In a mid-credits scene, T’Challa appears before the United Nations to reveal Wakanda’s true nature to the world. In a post-credits scene, Shuri helps Bucky Barnes with his recuperation.

It is worthy of note that Black Panther is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the eighteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole, and stars Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa / Black Panther, alongside Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis.

In Black Panther, T’Challa returns home as king of Wakanda but finds his sovereignty challenged by a long-time adversary, in a conflict with global consequences.

Wesley Snipes expressed interest in working on a Black Panther film in 1992, but the project did not come to fruition. In September 2005, Marvel Studios announced a Black Panther film as one of ten based on Marvel characters and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Mark Bailey was hired to write a script in January 2011. Black Panther was announced in October 2014, and Boseman made his first appearance as the character in Captain America: Civil War (2016). By the end of 2015, Cole and Coogler had joined; additional cast joined in May 2016, making Black Panther the first Marvel film with a predominantly black cast. Principal photography took place from January to April 2017, at EUE/Screen Gems Studios in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and Busan, South Korea.

Black Panther premiered in Los Angeles on January 29, 2018, and was released theatrically in the United States on February 16, 2018, in 2D, 3D, IMAX and other premium large formats. It received critical acclaim, with praise directed toward its visuals, screenplay, characters, direction, costume design, action sequences, soundtrack, and performances.

Critics considered it as one of the best films set in the MCU and noted its cultural significance. It has grossed over $491m worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 2018. Its four-day opening weekend gross of $242.1m in the United States was the second-highest of all time and its three-day gross of $202 million was the fifth highest of all time which also set the record for biggest debut by an African-American director.

Typically, superheroes-movie whether Men of Steel, Gods of Thunder, or Dark Knights, are dominated by white casts. So, “Black Panther” has appeal to comic book fans as well as a more general black audience. And when those audiences intersect, there’s super excitement.

Success breeds success in Hollywood and the money “Black Panther” rakes in will almost certainly open the door to more action films with black casts and filmmakers. While Disney hasn’t announced a sequel, one seems likely.

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