Update 8/29/20: In celebration of the life and work of Chadwick Boseman, we’ve made this review available for free. Stream or download directly on our Patreon page at the link below.
Wai Ting and Nate Milton(The Rocky Maivia Picture Show, Kings of Sport) review the eighteenth Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Black Panther (2018).
The two discuss the work of director Ryan Coogler(Creed, Fruitvale Station), Michael B. Jordan’s incredible performance as Erik Killmonger and why he may be the MCU’s greatest villain, the film’s questions about African-American displacement, the social impact of its portrayals of women and African culture, as well as its record-breaking box office success.
After the death of his father, T’Challa returns home to the African nation of Wakanda to take his rightful place as king. When a powerful enemy suddenly reappears, T’Challa’s mettle as king — and as Black Panther — gets tested when he’s drawn into a conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people.
Trailer:
To listen to our previous MCU Movie Reviews, click here.
I thought this movie was fantastic (as were most of the MCU’s Phase 3 offerings). While in a lot of ways, it follows the Marvel formula to a tee, it also doesn’t fall into some of the tropes that I think a lot of the post GotG 1 Marvel films fall into, with far too much emphasis on the humour (in serious moments) and an over-reliance on pop culture music. I think Chadwick Boseman has a ton of charisma; he just carries himself in a different way then Killmonger (for example) does. It’s sort of like Wai said in the review, in the sense that T’Challa comes off as a likeable character, but he also feels like a legitimate leader when he speaks, which further separates him from Kilmonger in that regard.
I’m excited for Black Panther 2, and I would be disappointed if they don’t dive into how the snap effected Wakanda politically as they began to open up to the rest of the world. Black Panther isn’t a comic property with a ton of well known antagonists to pull from, so without much fan expectations in that aspect, Marvel will have a lot of creative liberty with whatever direction they go in the sequel.
This was a fantastic review guys, great work. I’m definitely not the biggest Marvel fan in the world but this and Ragnarok are my two fave MCU movies (for very different reasons). “Black Panther” is really the only one which felt like it had the depth of character and conflict, not to mention emotional impact (Killmonger’s death), which so many of them strive for.
My guess is this movie is less about a big villian per se as it is Wakanda recovering from The Blip. Maybe some minor BP villains have joined forces during the 5-year period & T’Challa has to turn them back. They could go with Namor as the big bad, but I think maybe we get a little bit of him here, & he becomes the main villain in BP3.
The possibilities are endless, but I trust Marvel/Coogler to do right by the franchise.
That’s pretty much exactly what I want from this movie. You could go in so many interesting directions. T’Challa has been out of the picture for 5 years, and I’d like to see some of the political difficulties that would of resulted from that.
As for Namor, he’s certainly the antagonist I associate the most with Black Panther. I’ll admit I’ve never found him terribly interesting, but I have faith in the MCU at this point. There’s also Dr. Doom, who’s associated with BP, but they should save him for the Avengers imo.
I could talk about BP forever…It’s one of the few films that I’ve seen more than twice in the theater (and I’ve probably watched it about 14 more times either on DVD or Netflix since then). In terms of the MCU, I think the only films I’ve watched as much are Winter Soldier & the original Avengers.
I know I said it during the review, but I really think BP is the perfection of the MCU formula (for good & for bad)…And it’s one of the few superhero/comic flicks that I think is as resonant or relevant as it is fun.
Yeah! I think there’s still the perception that superhero films need to be aesthetically grim in order to be substantive or meaningful, lest they be discounted as comparative fluff, but BP is fast, bright, and colourful while still packing a punch.
Bumping this as we’ve made the review for free in celebration of the life and work of Chadwick Boseman. It’s one of my favourite podcasts that I was privileged enough to do with @PodFatherSOH. Hopefully it encourages you to rewatch it this weekend.
While it’s gutting to hear about this it’s also incredible that for four years he was battling chemo and surgery and progressive cancer and still able to put out the body of work he did right until the end. A true inspiration.
