We’re just a few weeks away from the launch of the 2018 superhero movie season, and with Marvel’s Black Panther currently outperforming every other MCU movie in terms of advance ticket sales, director Ryan Coogler has been chatting to Fandango about T’Challa’s solo movie, and what makes it unique compared to other superhero films.
“There have been a lot of superhero movies made,” said the Fruitvale Station and Creed helmer. “As a comic book and superhero film fan myself, I feel like we’ve seen a lot at this point. I think that the cultural element of [Black Panther] — and how cultural specificity takes such a big role in the film – that’s what makes it quite unique. I’m excited to see more [superhero movies], but there hasn’t really been a film about a character like T’Challa before. Hopefully we can pull it off, but it has the potential to be something that’s really unique in a lot of different ways. I think that you can’t ignore the idea of representation and also the excitement around Marvel Studios and the work that they’ve been able to pull off when telling original and unique stories. I think that folks are excited to see what the studio is able to cook up.”
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Coogler then went on to discuss how we’ll see a different side of T’Challa than that of Civil War, now that he’s back in his familiar surroundings of Wakanda:
“Well, the film will take place basically immediately after Civil War. In many ways, he’s the same guy. What I think is more important, and I was talking to my brother Keenan about it, who works with me, you get to see T’Challa at almost from a ground level. You get to see him and how he is around the people who he loves, how he is when he’s comfortable. In Civil War, he was outside of Wakanda. He was in a place that he didn’t want to be and his father gets killed. The whole film, he’s on a mission. He’s a man on a mission. He’s tortured; he’s of few words. I think that that was something that made him appealing in that film. In this film, it’s the same guy, but you’re seeing all of the layers pulled back. The film’s from his perspective and he’s surrounded by people who he loves and cares for. It’s just a much more personal perspective on him. You see him go through the journey of taking on the greatest responsibility that a person can have, the responsibility of leading a country. You see him go through the full weight of that in the film.”
SEE ALSO: Lupita Nyong’o was unable to get tickets to Black Panther after it sold out
After the events of Captain America: Civil War, King T’Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country’s new leader. However, T’Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne from factions within his own country. When two foes conspire to destroy Wakanda, the hero known as Black Panther must team up with C.I.A. agent Everett K. Ross and members of the Dora Milaje, Wakandan special forces, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war.
Black Panther sees Ryan Coogler (Creed) directing Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa alongside Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Forest Whitaker as Zuri, Daniel Kaluuya as W’Kabi, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, Martin Freeman as Everett Ross, Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue, Letitia Wright as Shuri and Nabiyah Be as Nightshade. The film is set for release on February 12th in the UK and on February 16th in the States.
Originally published January 12, 2018. Updated April 16, 2018.
