Black Panthershines a light on
an under-represented part of
the comic-book canonthe Afro-futurist paradise and most advanced
nation on Earth, from outside threats — in
Captain America: Civil War. Black Panther is
set immediately after the events of Civil War
— in which T’Challa’s father T’Chaka was killed,
prompting T’Challa’s return home to become
king in a time of great turmoil. The backstory
leg-work in this fi lm “meant we had to make
sure that Black Panther stands alone”, says
executive producer Nate Moore to Empire on
set in Atlanta, while acknowledging that it’s
“unlike anything we’ve done before”.
Moore — who was a comic book-obsessed
kid — has had the Black Panther story on his
mind since joining Marvel’s in-house writers’
programme in the late noughties. This passion
project-turned-multi-million-dollar movie is
being helmed by Creed director and writer Ryan
Coogler, with a cast as expansive as they are
impressive — Boseman, Danai Gurira, Lupita
Nyong’o, Michael B. Jordan, Forest Whitaker,
Angela Bassett, Daniel Kaluuya, Andy Serkis
and Martin Freeman.
Star Chadwick Boseman speaks to the
signifi cance of what he is part of: “It’s
unprecedented. You’re watching it happen
every day going, ‘I can’t believe it! It’s us in it.THOR: RAGNAROK MAY have only
just hulk-smashed into the world, but the next,
the 18th fi lm from the Marvel Cinematic
Universe, is just three months away, and though
it may be the latest in a fairly long line, it
promises to be anything but more of the same.
Not only is Black Panther the fi rst solo black
superhero movie in the current MCU — having
been the fi rst black superhero in mainstream
comics when it was created by Stan Lee and Jack
Kirby in the 1960s — but also the fi rst big-budget
comic-book tent-pole movie with a
predominantly black cast and fi lmmaking crew.
We fi rst met Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa
— the young ruler who must protect Wakanda,WORDS TERRI WHITEREADY TO POUNCE
FIRST LOOK
EXCLUSIVEBLACK
PANTHER
OUT 15 FEBRUARY 2018It’s a big deal to walk onto the set and see Angela
Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Lupita, Danai and
myself and Michael B. It’s us here, and look at
that set and take that in.”
Comic-book movies that break the formula
have found box offi ce success in recent years
— Deadpool and Guardians Of The Galaxy to
name but two — and now Black Panther may be
Marvel’s boldest move yet. Says Moore, “If it’s
good, people will see it regardless of colour. At
Marvel it’s never been a question of whether it
would work, just that it’s a good story.”