WORDS HELEN O’HARA ILLUSTRATION OLLY GIBBSKing T’Challa of Wakanda
(Chadwick Boseman).
Below: T’Challa ready to
pounce as the Black Panther.9 THINGS YOU NEED
TO KNOW ABOUT...
After that trailer, here’s
everything we’ve got on
Marvel’s boldest film yet3
Two foes? The teaser shows that one is
Andy Serkis’ Ulysses Klaue, who first
appeared in Age Of Ultron. An arms
dealer who made a fortune smuggling the
priceless metal vibranium out of Wakanda, he’s
still working with enemies of the country’s royal
family. Sadly for Klaue, he’s going to spend a bit
of time in custody being interrogated by Civil
War’s CIA operative Everett Ross (Martin
Freeman), a regular Black Panther collaborator.4
But what about that second baddie?
If you study Klaue’s prison escape
closely, you’ll see that he’s in cahoots
with Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger,
aka N’Jadaka. He’s a genius strongman native to,
but exiled from Wakanda, who has sworn
revenge on T’Challa’s family and has his sights
set on the throne.5
This is not, however, going to be another
super-sausage-fest. That’s partly because
of T’Challa’s stepmother Ramonda
(Angela Bassett) but mostly because of the
formidable Dora Milaje, the all-female warriors
who come from the tribes of Wakanda and form
a sort of marriage pool/bodyguard corps for the
royal family. You’ve already seen one of them in
Florence Kasumba’s fearsome minder from Civil
War — she will be back.1
All aboard for Wakanda! Chadwick
Boseman’s Black Panther solo film,
courtesy of director Ryan Coogler
(Creed), is the final standalone title before
Avengers: Infinity War. Chances it will prove to
be the calm before the storm? Slim to none.2
The story sees King T’Challa (Boseman)
returning to his reclusive, technologically
advanced African nation of Wakanda to
take his father’s place on the throne, following
the events of Captain America: Civil War.
However, he faces challengers for his crown and
“two foes” threatening to drag Wakanda into
a world war. T’Challa must don the Black
Panther suit again to fight for his people.
Never a day’s peace for a blue-blooded battler.BLACK
PANTHER