![\"\"](\"http:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/aas303\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/105\/2019\/04\/Black-Panther-Poster--300x158.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Being Marvel\u2019s 18th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe\u2019s long-running film saga, Black Panther<\/em> shattered records, expectation, and Marvel\u2019s tradition of writing lackluster villains. Ryan Coogler\u2019s third film as a director solidified his standing as a directorial powerhouse as he had consistently imbued his films with nuance and a social awareness that is especially astute. Coogler carried into Black Panther<\/em> the same meticulous attention to detail and care for the art of narrative that he showcased in Fruitvale Station <\/em>and Creed<\/em>. Powerful, exciting, inspiring\u2013 Marvel\u2019s Black Panther <\/em>became a global phenomenon thanks to the artists both behind and in front of the screen that obviously nurtured this project and strove to create something that would resonate with audiences, especially Black audiences, across the globe. Black Panther<\/em>, which is the film adaptation of the Marvel Comics hero by the same name, aligns itself with the Afrofuturism tradition as a film that serves as a celebration of Black culture throughout the African diaspora. (Note: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby\u2019s first writing of T\u2019Challa happens in 1966 predating the establishment of the Black Panther Party by nearly a year). Black Panther <\/em>is a story that uplifts Black voices and bodies and realizes Black people\u2019s potential as the film is circumscribed by a that has been untouched by white imperialism or supremacy. In the fictional world of Wakanda, Africa, Wakandans are free to fulfill their potential that otherwise, obstensibly, would have been stifled if they existed outside of their sequestered society which thy so strategically hid away from the rest of the outside world. Taking place after his father\u2019s death in Captain America: Civil War<\/em>, Black Panther <\/em>follows T\u2019Challa\u2019s tumultuous and taxing journey of inheriting the throne of Wakanda and officially becoming Wakanda\u2019s protector as he also inherited the role of the Is he inherited the mantle of becoming Black Panther. In assuming the role of Black Panther, T’challa is fitted with the Black Panther suit which is nearly indestructible, high-tech armor created by his little sister Sherri who is a technological genius and who is arguably the star of the film with her quick-wittedness and grounded humor.<\/p>\n Following with the awesome use portrayal of women as strong independent figures King T\u2019Challa is protected by Okoye, the head soldier in the female-led bodyguard group known as the Dora Milaje. The plot is complicated when Ulysses Klaue, a South African arms-dealer whose intention was to steal vibranium from Wakanda and auction it off (Klaue was introduced to the MCU back in Avengers: Age of Ultron<\/em> and also made an appearance in Captain America: Civil War<\/em>) teamed up with the film\u2019s ultimate antagonist Erik Killmonger. While it is Klause\u2019s intention is to steal vibranium, Erik Killmonger had the intention is to take back what he feels he rightfully is owed\u2013 the Wakandan throne. Erik Killmonger\u2019s story and inevitable character development is what gives the film it incredible nuance and striking political discourse. Erik Killmonger\u2019s story begins in Oakland, California where he was raised. After playing with his friends outside, Erik goes up to his apartment and is met with his dad\u2019s dead body. Erik\u2019s father N\u2019Jobu had apparently been smuggling vibranium out of Wakanda and selling it to the highest bidder. Upon hearing this news, King T\u2019Chaka (T\u2019Challa\u2019s father and predecessor to the throne and the Black Panther mantle) goes to confront N\u2019Jobu about his crime against Wakanda. The argument ends badly as T\u2019Chaka ends up killing who was actually his brother N\u2019Jobu. Here, we see the beginnings of a tension between putting your nation, your political ideologies, and the priority and solidarity of family, of blood relationship. The latter interpretation lends itself to the broader implications of the film that speaks to Erik Killmonger\u2019s ideologies. The main question of the film that T\u2019Challa must understand for him is whether or not to open Wakanda\u2019s borders and share with the world the vibranium. As a traditionalist, T\u2019Challa champions for isolationism. Yet, Killmonger\u2019s character works not only to contrast T\u2019Challa, but also Killmonger serves as a mirror for T\u2019Challa.\u00a0\u00a0These two ideologies are what we find are at war with one another, coming to a head in a climactic CGI-laden battle scene where Erik Killmonger is ultimately defeated.<\/p>\n Political discourse is not new within the MCU as we’ve seen it being tackled in Captain America: Winter Soldier<\/em> with the problem of surveillance and also in Captain America Civil War with the issue of the extent of governmental involvement in every-day lives. But, Black Panther<\/em> is the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that tackles its politics directly foregrounding in the film\u2019s political discourse. Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole both wrote Black Panther <\/em>with the intention of having Wakanda stand as a sort of symbol and as an exemplary utopia. Their goal was to show the potentiality for African people to succeed if they had not been subjugated or colonized by white imperialists. Yet, Coogler also, while he paints this vision of a sort of utopic nation tackles the troubling politics of what allowed for this nation to succeed in its isolationist ideologies. These ideologies harkento the ideologies of America’s right-wing in terms of the \u201cAmerica First\u201d politics that called for America to embrace isolationist ideologies. There is also an underlying implication that in order for a nation such that belongs to groups who would otherwise be oppressed by the dominative forces of the world to thrive, they would have to be cut off entirely from the rest of the world and concerned only with their own success and survival. There’s a sense of Garveyism in creating one’s own nation as separate to that of those who could be oppressors and Wakanda as a construct takes that idea of Garveyism and shifts it to its extreme. There’s a tension in that it is the African king who is a champion for isolation and that Killmonger, raised as an American, is aware of the harmful consequences that isolationism reaps. Killmonger fights. though still for sort of Garveyistic agenda in that he wishes to separate Blacks from the rest of the world by putting them in in positions of power, but he understands this greater duty to serving the African diaspora as a descendant of peoples of Africa himself. Ultimately, Killmonger believes in a sort of Black global community, a Black global power whereas King T’challa believes in an isolated Wakandan nation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Being Marvel\u2019s 18th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe\u2019s long-running film saga, Black Panther shattered records, expectation, and Marvel\u2019s tradition of writing lackluster villains. Ryan Coogler\u2019s third film as a director solidified his standing as a directorial powerhouse as he had consistently imbued his films with nuance and a social awareness that is especially astute.<\/p>\n