The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest edition, “Black Panther,” has gotten a lot of hype and anticipation from fans and common moviegoers ever since its announcement.
Not only have the trailers racked up millions of views on Youtube, but this movie broke a ticket presale record just 24 hours after going on sale, besting “Captain America: Civil War.”
The number of presale tickets continued to grow; CNN reported that it passed other superhero films, such as “The Avengers,” in presales as well. In addition, NBC News revealed that results from a survey Fandango conducted with 8,000 participants showed that “Black Panther” is currently the second most anticipated movie of the year, with Marvel’s “Avengers: Infinity War” in the lead.
On top of that, this movie is the first to have an almost entirely African-American cast and has currently been regarded as a pop-cultural phenomenon.
Taking place after the events of “Civil War,” the film follows T’Challa, played by Chadwick Boseman, as he returns to his reclusive and technologically advanced home country of Wakanda to assume his late father’s role as king; however, he soon finds that he is being challenged for the throne by factions within the country.
In addition, Wakandan exile and American black ops soldier Erik Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan, along with rogue arms dealer Ulysses Klaue, played by Andy Serkis, are conspiring to expose and destroy Wakanda.
With Wakanda on the verge of being dragged into a world war, T’Challa must take up his role as both king and the Black Panther, while teaming up with his closest allies as well as CIA agent Everett K. Ross, played by Martin Freeman, to end the war before it begins.
Following the film’s release on Friday, Feb. 16, “Black Panther” smashed several box office records, including biggest February opening weekend, biggest non-sequel opening weekend and biggest solo superhero launch of all time.
The film grossed a domestic total of $201.8 million on opening weekend and has currently made more than a billion worldwide. In addition, it’s currently the highest-ranking Marvel movie on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 97 percent.
Omicron Delta Kappa co-president and vice president of Black Student Union Treci Butler, is looking forward to seeing the movie, adding that he is most interested in seeing how well the cast performs in a Marvel film.
“I love the fact that it is a black cast because we do not see superhero movies with a large black cast,” Butler said.
Audience member Christian Clouthier really enjoyed “Black Panther.” His favorite aspects of the movies were the characters and casts’ performances.
“I liked the fact that there was so much depth to them,” Clouthier said. “There were so many good aspects to them, such as skills, and that each of them had their own failings, so nobody was super ‘too-good’ or ‘too not-good.’”
Hill Top Preparatory School sophomore Austin Newbold was also fond of the cast, explaining that when Boseman and Jordan spoke to each other, it felt like they were speaking from the heart instead of memory. Newbold also commended Jordan’s performance as Killmonger, saying that this was the first Marvel film he had seen that had a great villain.
“Usually, Marvel villains are one-dimensional characters with only abilities, identity, goal and possibly a backstory,” Newbold said. “Erik Killmonger has all of these qualities and more.”
Newbold also loved Letitia Wright, who plays T’Challa’s sister and Wakanda’s lead technological innovator, Shuri.
“Instead of making the techie character the usual socially awkward and serious character, scriptwriters Ryan Cooglar and Joe Robert Cole made Shrui a playful and excitable character,” Newbold said. “A refreshing decision.”
However, Newbold felt that the movie had a few flaws. One such flaw was the love cycle between T’Challa and his ex-girlfriend, Nakia, played by Lupita Nyong’o. Newbold said it was the same trope in which the main male and female characters fall in love; however, he noted that “Black Panther” portrayed this trope in a different and better way.
It appears that after all the hype and anticipation that “Black Panther” received, it’s box office records and positive reviews were well deserved.
“I believe that the profits of this film during its opening weekend will be a sign that superhero movies starring people of color as main roles will be profitable and popular,” Newbold said. “This would mean that superhero films— and films in general— starring people of color as main characters would be more common in the mainstream media film industry.”
