(No Spoilers)
Marvel's Black Panther is a fun, exciting, action packed, movie with stunning visuals. Yet as good as this movie is, it is also the most thought provoking superhero movie in my opinion. The character of Black Panther was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, back in 1966. T'Challa (the Black Panther), a black superhero that could best the white superheroes, came from a technologically advanced African nation, and ruled over his own country as king. This was ground breaking because I think it’s important to remember the time this character came to be. His appearance came just a couple years after the Civil Rights Act was passed and just a year after Martin Luther King’s Selma-Montgomery March, the Watts Riots and the murder of Malcolm X. Black Panther was Marvel’s first superhero of African descent and the first black superhero in mainstream American comics. So in a time of a civil rights movements, Black Panther was an inspirational character that demanded attention and respect. Today is 2018 and this is one of the most anticipated films from people who originally read the comics and people that enjoy Marvel movies today. People were excited to see this movie and some folks even came to the theaters in full African regalia. The level of expectation reached even higher than the already impossibly high level set by the near perfect scores by a majority of movie critics praising the film as a Marvel milestone. This movie had every aspect of characters you can think of in a movie. You have a powerful king that rules, yet has flaws and deals with failure. You have a villain played by Michael B Jordan with his powerful performance, yet a villain whom we can sympathize with. Then you have your strong woman characters that can open up a can of whoop a..! It's not your usual superhero movie. It's a movie that causes you to think and bring social awareness. There's many topics to discuss in this film. Responsibility, leadership, doing the right thing, betrayal, lying, spying, terrorism, siblings, defending ones country, doubting oneself, trust, being good, technological advances, hardship, U.S. Government, CIA, and the list goes on. With the newly successful director Ryan Coogler, the mostly all black cast for a change, and the record setting pre-sales, “Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’ reigns supreme at the theaters. As a filmmaker I enjoyed the story, the superb acting, costume and makeup, and the visuals. Black Panther is rated PG-13 for prolonged sequences of action violence, and a brief rude gesture. This is definitely one movie to go check out to be entertained, be socially aware, and create many discussions afterwards. Enjoy the movie!