Black Panther
As the studios’ first official foray into the world of Wakanda, Black Panther assembles top talents across the board to bring it to fruition.
Make no mistake, Black Panther is T’Challa’s story. But, the light and heart of the film are the women of Wakanda. As someone who has always been more than frustrated with the limited, and often atrocious, representation of women in the MCU, it’s refreshing to see how comfortable Black Panther is to let its cast of female characters shine. The film showcases the different kinds of strength and beauty women possess, in manners we have never seen in other Marvel films before. Each of them is a fully realized character who has her own personality, motivation and ambitions. As individuals, the arguments and ideologies they represent bring real conflicts to the story. Together, they all tie beautifully into T’Challa’s journey to become the King he needs to be.
In the span of 10 years, Marvel has proven itself to be a force of its own in producing movies that are “fun” but given their success there is no reason they shouldn’t aspire to be more. Black Panther is “fun” but more importantly, it has something profound to say about the world we live in today. The film thoughtfully laces issues of historical and modern racism and racial tension into the narrative. Audience will without a doubt recognize some of the rhetoric that are ubiquitous in politics and our own social circles. The superhero fable offers its own graceful solution as to how we can move forward and the answer is always, to connect. “The wise build bridges...while the foolish build barriers”, as one character remarks.
When we talk about films that are “timely”, “important”, the words “it’s time” would inevitably come up in the conversation. For Marvel, a studios that has enjoyed a decade of success, it has been that time for many years. Black Panther feels like an important piece of puzzle in the Marvel mythology that’s been missing for too long.
(Originally posted on 20 Feb 2018 @projectunwrapped)
