Black Panther (film) 2

[Desmond Hutchins]

BlackPanther is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 18th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole, and it stars Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther alongside Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis. In Black Panther, T'Challa is crowned king of Wakanda following his father's death, but he is challenged by Killmonger (Jordan), who plans to abandon the country's isolationist policies and begin a global revolution.

Wesley Snipes planned to make a Black Panther film in 1992, but the project did not come to fruition. In September 2005, Marvel Studios listed a Black Panther film as one of ten films based on Marvel characters intended to be distributed by Paramount Pictures. Mark Bailey was hired to write a script in January 2011. Black Panther was officially announced in October 2014, and Boseman made his first appearance as the character in Captain America: Civil War (2016). Cole and Coogler had joined by then, with additional casting in May. Black Panther was the first Marvel Studios film with a Black director and a predominantly Black cast. Principal photography took place from January to April 2017 at EUE/Screen Gems Studios in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and in Busan, South Korea.

Black Panther premiered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on January 29, 2018, and was released theatrically in the United States on February 16, as part of Phase Three of the MCU. Critics praised its direction, writing, acting (particularly that of Boseman, Jordan, and Wright), costume design, production values, and soundtrack, but some criticized the visual effects. Many critics considered the film to be one of the best in the MCU, and it was also noted for its cultural significance. The National Board of Review and the American Film Institute named Black Panther one of the top-ten films of 2018. It grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide and broke numerous box office records, becoming the highest-grossing film directed by a Black filmmaker, the ninth-highest-grossing film at the time of its release, the third-highest-grossing film in the U.S. and Canada, and the second-highest-grossing film of 2018.

Black Panther was nominated for seven awards at the 91st Academy Awards, winning three, and received numerous other accolades. It was the first superhero film to receive a Best Picture nomination, and the first MCU film to win several categories. A sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, was released on November 11, 2022, while a television series set in Wakanda is in development for Disney+.

Thousands of years ago, five African tribes war over a meteorite containing the metal vibranium. One warrior ingests a "heart-shaped herb" affected by the metal and gains superhuman abilities, becoming the first "Black Panther". He unites all but the Jabari Tribe to form the nation of Wakanda. Over centuries, the Wakandans use vibranium to develop advanced technologies and isolate themselves from the world by posing as an underdeveloped country. In 1992, Wakanda king T'Chaka visits his brother N'Jobu, who is working undercover in Oakland, California. T'Chaka accuses N'Jobu of assisting black-market arms dealer Ulysses Klaue with stealing vibranium from Wakanda. N'Jobu's partner reveals he is Zuri, another undercover Wakandan, and confirms T'Chaka's suspicions.

In the present day, following T'Chaka's death,[a] his son T'Challa returns to Wakanda to assume the throne. He and Okoye, leader of the Dora Milaje, extract T'Challa's ex-lover Nakia from an undercover assignment so she can attend his coronation ceremony with his mother Ramonda and younger sister Shuri. At the ceremony, the Jabari Tribe's leader M'Baku challenges T'Challa for the crown in ritual combat. T'Challa defeats M'Baku when he persuades him to yield rather than die.

When Klaue and his accomplice Erik Stevens steal a Wakandan artifact from a London museum, T'Challa's friend and Okoye's husband W'Kabi urges him to bring Klaue back alive. T'Challa, Okoye, and Nakia travel to Busan, South Korea, where Klaue plans to sell the artifact to CIA agent Everett K. Ross. A firefight erupts, and Klaue attempts to flee but is caught by T'Challa, who reluctantly releases him to Ross's custody. Klaue tells Ross that Wakanda's international image is a front for a technologically advanced civilization. Erik attacks and extracts Klaue as Ross is gravely injured protecting Nakia. Rather than pursue Klaue, T'Challa takes Ross to Wakanda, where their technology can save him.

While Shuri heals Ross, T'Challa confronts Zuri about N'Jobu, as Erik was wearing a necklace that belonged to him. Zuri explains that N'Jobu had grown disillusioned with Wakanda's isolationism and planned to share Wakanda's technology with people of African descent around the world to help them conquer their oppressors with the help of Klaue. Before T'Chaka could arrest N'Jobu, the latter attacked Zuri and forced T'Chaka to kill him. T'Chaka ordered Zuri to lie that N'Jobu had disappeared and left behind N'Jobu's American son N'Jadaka to maintain the lie. This boy grew up to be Erik, a black ops U.S. Navy SEAL who adopted the nickname "Killmonger". Meanwhile, Killmonger kills Klaue and takes his body to Wakanda. He is brought before the tribal elders, revealing his identity as N'Jadaka and stating his claim to the throne. Killmonger challenges T'Challa to ritual combat, where he kills Zuri, badly injures T'Challa, and hurls him over a waterfall. Killmonger ingests the heart-shaped herb and orders the rest incinerated, but Nakia extracts one of them. Killmonger, supported by W'Kabi and his army, prepares to distribute shipments of Wakandan weapons to operatives worldwide.

Nakia, Shuri, Ramonda, and Ross flee to the Jabari Tribe for aid. They find a comatose T'Challa, rescued by the Jabari as repayment for sparing M'Baku's life. Healed by Nakia's herb, T'Challa returns to fight Killmonger, who also dons a nanotech suit similar to T'Challa's. W'Kabi and his army fight Shuri, Nakia, and the Dora Milaje while Ross remotely pilots a jet and shoots down the planes carrying vibranium weapons before they can leave Wakanda. M'Baku and the Jabari arrive to reinforce T'Challa. Confronted by Okoye, W'Kabi and his army stand down. Fighting in Wakanda's vibranium mine, T'Challa disrupts Killmonger's suit and stabs him. Killmonger refuses to be healed, choosing to die as a free man rather than be incarcerated; T'Challa shows him the Wakanda sunset, and Killmonger dies peacefully.

T'Challa establishes an outreach center at the building where N'Jobu died, to be run by Nakia and Shuri. In a mid-credits scene, T'Challa appears before the United Nations to reveal Wakanda's true nature to the world. In a post-credits scene, Shuri helps Bucky Barnes with his rehabilitation.

In June 1992, Wesley Snipes announced his intention to make a film about Black Panther,[57] and began work on it by that August.[58] Snipes felt that Africa had been portrayed poorly in Hollywood films previously, and that this film could highlight the majesty of the continent due to the title character being noble and "the antithesis of [African] stereotypes".[59] The next July, Snipes planned to begin The Black Panther after starring in Demolition Man (1993),[60] and a month later he expressed interest in making sequels to the film as well.[61] In January 1994, Snipes entered talks with Columbia Pictures to portray Black Panther,[62] and Black Panther co-creator Stan Lee joined the film by March;[63] it entered early development by May.[64] Snipes had discussions with several different screenwriters and directors about the project, including Mario Van Peebles and John Singleton.[59] When the film had not progressed by January 1996, Lee explained that he had not been pleased with the scripts for the project.[65] Snipes said that one of the issues with the project's development was confusion among those unfamiliar with the comics, who thought the film was about the Black Panther Party.[59]

In July 1997, Black Panther was listed as part of Marvel Comics' film slate,[66] and in March 1998, Marvel reportedly hired Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti, who at the time were editors of the Black Panther comics, to work on it;[67][59] Quesada and Palmiotti have both denied this.[59] That August, corporate problems at Marvel put the project on hold.[68] A year later, Snipes was set to produce, and possibly star, in the film,[69] while Artisan Entertainment announced a deal with Marvel in May 2000 to co-produce, finance, and distribute the film.[70] In March 2002, Snipes planned to make the film or Blade 3 (2004) over the next year.[71] In July 2004, Blade 3 director David S. Goyer stated that he felt Snipes starring as Black Panther in addition to Marvel's Blade "might be overkill".[72]

In September 2005, Marvel chairman and CEO Avi Arad announced Black Panther as one of ten films being developed by the new Marvel Studios.[73] Marvel Studios received financing to produce the slate of ten films to be distributed by Paramount Pictures.[74] In June 2006, Snipes said he hoped to have a director for the project soon,[75] and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige reiterated in February 2007 that Black Panther was in development.[76] By that July, Singleton had been approached to direct the film.[77] Two months earlier, Fantastic Four (2005) director Tim Story expressed his interest in casting Djimon Hounsou as Black Panther if he were to direct another Fantastic Four film after Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007),[78] but a third Fantastic Four film helmed by Story went unproduced.[79] In March 2009, Marvel hired writers to help come up with creative ways to launch its lesser-known properties, including Black Panther;[80] Nate Moore, the head of the writers program, was overseeing the development of Black Panther specifically.[81] Snipes's involvement stalled at this time, as he was convicted of failing to file a tax return, serving his sentence from June 2010 to April 2013.[82] In January 2011, Marvel Studios hired documentary filmmaker Mark Bailey to write a script for Black Panther, to be produced by Feige.[83] By October 2013, the metal vibranium, which comes from Black Panther's home nation Wakanda, was introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe;[84] Marvel had considered showing Wakanda itself as early as Iron Man 2 (2010), but were waiting until they had "a full idea" of how to depict it.[10]

3a8082e126