A few months ago, the Marvel Cinematic Universe met Prince T’Challa of Wakanda in ‘Captain America: Civil War’. Throughout the film, True Believers saw the prince become a king and the king become a superhero known as Black Panther. But while that movie served as a good introduction to the character, there is a long history behind the mantle of the African warrior that wasn’t able to be explored. Luckily, it sounds like director Ryan Coogler will be covering all of that in ‘Black Panther’.
During a recent interview with Yahoo! Movies, Chadwick Boseman discussed the origins of T’Challa and the Black Panther. The star mentions that ‘Civil War’ was only the tip of the iceberg, but when the hero’s solo film hits theaters in a few years, the cast and crew will be able to dig a little deeper into the history of the character, his country, their culture, and even the people who donned the mask in the past:
“’Civil War’ was a jumping off point for the Black Panther character. It’s not necessarily an origin story because he remains a mystery through most of the movie. When I take the mask off and it’s revealed that it’s the Prince of Wakanda, that’s the guy who’s father was just killed – it’s a surprise. If you saw the tease at the end [of ‘Civil War’] in Wakanda, that’s more mystery there so I think there’s a lot to reveal about the character.
There is definitely more of his origin in ‘Black Panther’. You’re going to learn about Wakanda, its culture, its traditions, the past. You can go through all the comic books and know that there’s more Panthers that have existed in the past – that’s origin.”
It’s definitely interesting that Boseman mentioned the previous Panthers, but now that has us wondering how they’ll be incorporated into the film. Will we see them in action through flashbacks? Are they only going to be mentioned in dialogue or seen memorialized in some way around Wakanda? Maybe Coogler will utilize the Djalia, the Plane of Wakandan Memory that is featured in Ta-Nehisi Coates’ current run of the Black Panther comic series. That seems like something we’d see in ‘Doctor Strange’, but like we always say, you never know what Marvel Studios and their filmmakers will bring over from the comics next.
How do you think T’Challa’s origins will play out in ‘Black Panther’? Do you think that we’ll actually see his predecessors take up the mantle on the big screen? And how do you think they would be incorporated into the plot? Share your thoughts and theories in the comments below.
‘Black Panther’ starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, and Danai Gurira hits theaters on February 16, 2018.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
