March 28, 2024

Making history: Black Panther

Marvels mega-film Black Panther  starring Chadwick Boseman was released in February 2018. The movie is a beautiful cinematic experience. It consists of fantastic story-telling and gave the Black community much needed representation in entertainment media.                 

Not only was Black Panther one of the first black super-heroes, he was the first-Black Marvel Cinematic Universe character to receive his own solo movie. Along with a powerful Black man in the lead, the movie features a Black country called Wakanda. 

The country is leading in technology and medicine with the power to run the world. The film also has many strong and powerful Black women. It was a movie that no one had seen before and was a huge step forward in normalizing actors and characters of color on the big screen.

 Boseman portrayed King T’Challa as a powerful and morally motivated ruler who wants nothing but the best for his people. He brought a strong, confident demeanor to the character and quickly became the hero the world needed to see. T’Challa was fearless and honest, something that was reflected by Chadwick’s own personality. Boseman went to school for years and acted in many roles until he was chosen to portray T’Challa. He was persistent and knew that he wanted to do what he loved, no matter how hard it was to achieve his goals. 

Boseman was a role model for many young Black boys and girls. He gave them a sense of belonging by becoming The Black Panther and showing them that the color of their skin has nothing to do with their ability to succeed. Too many parts of society, convince people of color that they are incapable of being the hero or being the star and this movie shot down a lot of those ideas. This movie made dreaming possible for many and inspired the masses to fight for the equality of black people. 

Though the MCU will never be the same without King T’Challa, the impact Black Panther left on cinema will be forever.