April 18, 2024

Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War was a turning point for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The franchise was steamrolling towards the Infinity saga and Civil War gave fans a few more characters to fight for Earths survival on the big screen. 

Marvel introduced a few key characters from the comic books in Civil War. One of which was fan favorite and media icon Spider-Man. The other was the King of Wakanda himself, Black Panther. 

The introduction of Peter Parker was big, but it didn’t have the same impact. Fans had seen two other movie adaptations of the web slinger in the last decade. They were ready for something new. That something was T’Challa. 

 Chadwick Boseman made his debut as a representative of Wakanda at a United Nations meeting to determine whether or not the Avengers were a danger to Earth. 

He played the part of representative well. He was calm, respectable and cautious. Fans of the comics were aware of what Wakanda had to hide, but new fans were getting a first look at what was in store. 

This movie isn’t a great time for T’Challa. During the UN meeting, a bomb exploded and killed Wakandas previous King and T’Challa’s father, King T’Chaka. 

Boseman really shows his capabilities in this film He shows this emotion of loss so well. You feel it while you’re watching. He brings you in with his grief and subsequent path of vengeance. He spends the rest of the movie suited up as the Black Panther. 

His inclusion into this film was incredibly important. He provided representation of a powerful character of color to a new generation of superhero fans. He was also the only MCU hero to this point who was from Africa. 

Boseman was set on playing this part with dignity and respect. He even threatened to leave the role if he was unable to use an authentic African accent in the film. He cared so much about correctly representing, he would’ve given up the biggest role of his career.  

He would go on playing Black Panther in a standalone film as well as the Infinity saga films “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.” The latter being the highest grossing film of all time. 

 Boseman was set to being pre-production for “Black Panther 2” in a matter of weeks, but unfortunately he died of Colon Cancer. Boseman might be gone, but T’Challa will live forever in the hearts of Marvel fans.