‘Black Panther’ The Hero We ALL Deserve

By: Kane Donaghy

Audiences have waited in anticipation across the nation for the release of Ryan Coogler’s, ‘Black Panther’ and for once in their life, the movie they thought would be so good, actually lived up to its hype. Unfazed by its black empowerment motives, Marvel’s most recent entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Black Panther has stormed theaters across the country and has made everyone, even the critics at Rotten Tomatoes, speechless, with a fresh score of 97%. This is a feat in and of itself, especially in a time where people like President Trump accuse third world countries of being “sh*t hole countries” and the USA is currently in constant turmoil with racial debacles. I just ask why we can’t look past all the racial divides and just respect it as the action packed, heart wrenching, emotional roller-coaster, and fantastic movie that it is.

The movie takes place in the modern-day world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a time when aliens fly out of portals in the sky, things like the hulk exist, and places like Wakanda have enough raw materials and wealth to make the Federal Reserve look like a penny stock. Wakanda, a fictional, undiscovered, city in a third-world country, is capable of such wealth due to a rare metal called vibranium, which collided with earth via asteroids millions of years ago. The true capabilities of this metal are what Marvel fails to explain, but based on what was shown in the film, it is capable of creating weaponry and technology to rival alien species. Kept in secret, the people of Wakanda have used this metal to surpass the entire rest of the world in technological advances and weaponry while remaining hidden under an invisible barrier.

In Black Panther, T’challa (Chadwick Boseman) has become king of Wakanda through his father’s death. His father, T’Chaka (John Kani), was T’challi’s role model whom he respected and worshiped. And after his father’s death in a bombing incident during the events that unfolded in Captain America’s Civil War, T’challi wished to follow in his father’s footsteps and to rule as his he did. However, as the plot unfolds, a heartbreaking realization will settle upon T’challa, and his father’s past actions will come to haunt him and challenge the man he thought his father was.

The movies introduction to its action-packed story line focuses on the relationship between a known arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) and Erik Killmonger (Micheal B. Jordan) an unknown assistant. Klaue wishes to use his knowledge of the vibranium to profit while Killmonger wishes to use it to guide him back to Wakanda, where he believes he is the rightful air to the throne.

But how could Killmonger be the air to the throne if T’challa was T’chaka’s only son? Well, remember where we said the old king had a few secrets he had been hiding? Turns out, he used to have a brother, N’Jobu (Sterling K. Brown) whom T’chaka murdered because he was found selling stolen vibranium to people “in need” in the United States. The motive for the theft? Police brutality and minority inequalities believed to have been occurring at the time in America. N’Jobu believed that with this superior weaponry, the minorities could rise and gain their freedom and establish their own world. That murder left an unnamed boy (Killmonger) orphaned who would later rise to become the main antagonist in the film and challenge for the right of the Black Panther.

This scene is where the plot begins, and where the awareness of black oppression begins to influence the film. To the blind, movie lover’s eye, it was just plot, but to the hawk eye critics who notice every detail, this was what made this film about racial equality.

The movie also establishes strong black female characters. T’challa’s sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) plays the role of an independent scientist who is in charge of all the scientific advances of Wakanda. As well as other strong female characters, such as Okoye (Danai Gurira) and Naka (Lupita Nyong’o) who play important roles in the bad-ass kings guard that held protect Wakanda from corruption and tyranny.

To sum it up, this film is a fantastic combination of both a “edge of your seat” movie and a project to raise awareness. I just wish that the people and critics would focus less on the racial and gender aspect of the film and focus more on fact that it was a great addition to the MCU that established a personable hero for the young and upcoming minorities in America and around the world. If we keep seeing black and white in the film industry, we’ll see it in everyday lives. Black Panther is a great movie for ALL audiences, black, white, green, purple, who cares, and has raised the bars for all movies to come. So, get out from behind your keyboard and go watch Black Panther.