Black Panther
Marvel Studios
2018
There was something in sitting in a fully packed theater in the near south side of Chicago watching Black Panther that will resonate for years to come. This was not the first visit to this theater, nor the first time I have sat in an audience where I was the minority. Here, as African-American men and young boys sported dashiki tops, and women and their daughters dressed in African patterned dresses, there was a distinct feeling that a paradigm shift was occurring in how I thought about personal experience and community. Black Panther is not merely a Marvel film blockbuster (even though it is clearly breaking the box office). Yes, it sets up expansion for the Marvel universe, yet this effort can stand alone. What rings most loudly is how Black Panther addresses important contemporary issues like isolationism, tradition, and how those often overlooked can provide balance in society.
Wakanda, from the film Black Panther, Marvel Studios, 2018
Erik Killmonger and T’Challa, Black Panther, Marvel Studios, 2018
T’Challa and Erik Killmonger in Black Panther, Marvel Studios, 2018
Okoye, Nakia, and Wakandan Guard from Black Panther, Marvel Studios, 2018
Shuri, Nakia, Queen Ramonda, and Everett K. Ross, Black Panther, Marvel Studios, 2018
Cover pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by John Verpoorten,
Black Panther Comic #1, Marvel Comics, 1977
Directed by Ryan Coogler
Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis
For additional information on Black Panther, please visit:
Black Panther – http://marvel.com/movies/movie/224/black_panther
Black Panther Comic – http://marvel.com/comics/discover/460/black-panther
Images copyright and property of Marvel Studios (2018) and Marvel Comics (1977).
Review by Chester Alamo-Costello
