Question Club: The best and worst parts of Black Panther

Over the weekend, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest installment, Black Panther, opened to record box office. It’s something new for Marvel: a movie with a largely black cast, helmed by a black director, and set in a fictional African country, where the vivid art, costume, and makeup designs were all inspired by real-world African tribal traditions. Critical and fan response has been almost universally positive and enthusiastic.

The film is part of a necessary retrenching for Marvel movies. The all-hero battles of Captain America: Civil War, and the galactic adventures of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Thor: Ragnorak, are leading up to the Infinity War saga, but for Marvel to keep putting out two or three superhero movies a year, some of them have to drop down to a smaller scale. Like Spider-Man: Homecoming, Black Panther limits the focus to a hero fighting his own local, personal battles: in this case, King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), aka the Black Panther, facing a threat to his rule and to his technologically hyper-advanced kingdom of Wakanda. We sat down to discuss the film’s story focus, its look, its frustrating flaws, and its heady successes. Warning: spoilers ahead.

What did you think of the scale of this story?

Chaim: Not only did the smaller scale work for me, I think Black Panther (and hopefully, other movies like it) represents the only viable way forward for Marvel. You can only go so much bigger, and the dangerously-close-to-overstuffed Avengers: Infinity War, which will feature practically every person who has ever been in one of these films, is more or less it. Bringing the lens in closer and just telling T’Challa’s story, as opposed to the more expanded “the entire fate of the world / galaxy / universe is at stake!” felt right to me.

Tasha: I agree that the lens needs to refocus down to the individual hero level for these stories to continue, and examining the hero of a completely isolated country is a particularly smart way to start. The one place that aspect didn’t really work for me was in the climax, where I just didn’t properly feel the threat coming off this handful of ships flying out of Wakanda, and getting shot down video-game-style by fancied-up drone pilot Martin Freeman. The film worked better for me when it was about the personal stakes of T’Challa’s family and friends not wanting to be ruled by this hostile stranger. The threat to the world felt comparatively abstract. I’m not sure why Marvel still thinks it needs this “threat to the entire world” aspect to give a movie stakes. Black Panther already has plenty of personal stakes before the ships go up.

Chaim: Right, “Oh by the way, if you don’t shoot down these three ships, the world will end” did feel tacked-on, and the threat of the Wakandan War Dogs destabilizing world governments was never tangible enough to be concerning.

Bryan: The ships did feel shoehorned in as if the studio thought they needed to satisfy a certain contingent of Marvel fans with the traditional approach. But that was a small price to pay for a film that didn’t have some mysterious alien creature yet again destroying some planet / world / universe yet again, until our costumed heroes could stop them yet again. (Now that I write that, I’m realizing just how tired I’ve become of the established Marvel movie formula.)

Black Panther worked not just because it was different in scale, but because the stakes were so incredibly personal, with so much modern thematic resonance. Michael B. Jordan’s villain, Erik Killmonger, carries the fury and outrage of slavery. T’Challa struggles with the realization that his own father raised him with lofty ideals, then betrayed them. It’s incredibly easy to relate to the anger and confusion of both characters, and for that reason alone, I was more invested than I’d been in a Marvel film in years. I’ll be a lot happier as a moviegoer if future entries in the franchise learn the lessons Black Panther teaches.

Image: Marvel Studios

Tasha: One thing I think is fascinating here is that so many MCU heroes are struggling with their own failings — Iron Man with his arrogance, Captain America with the way he failed Bucky, Bruce Banner with his (extremely variable by movie) lack of control over the Hulk, Thor with his pride, and so forth. T’Challa is struggling with his father’s failings instead and trying to figure out what his responsibilities are. Given the film’s deep roots in African nationalism, that “what do we owe our fathers” theme becomes strongly resonant — but it also just feels fresh and daring. Tony Stark certainly has father issues too, but they don’t cover the fate, purpose, and responsibility of a nation in nearly the same way.

Chaim: T’Challa just has so much more responsibility than most superhero characters. One of the things I think the movie does really well is to remind viewers that he’s also the king of a sovereign nation, with the duties to his people that encompasses. It’s not just a trophy or a chair to be won, the way control of Stark Industries or Wayne Enterprises has been in past superhero films. T’Challa’s rulership really factors into the decisions he’s forced to make about his own destiny and Wakanda’s, right up until the end credits.

Bryan: Not only does he feel responsibility — he’s actually eager to assume a leadership role for his country and people. We’ve grown so used to the reluctant-hero archetype with some of these movies, and it’s incredibly novel to see a hero who actually wants to do something good for all of the right reasons. Black Panther subverts the expectation that righteous heroes are boring, and at the same time, it gives us one of the few superheroes who isn’t a raging narcissist. T’Challa’s ultimate arc in this movie is that he decides to let go of tradition and do what will be right to help the rest of the world. It’s not about grandstanding like Tony Stark, or working out his emotional issues by dressing up like a bat. It’s about the notion of honor, and how that can evolve when one steps from a local stage and onto a global one.

The more we talk about it, the more it feels like a minor miracle this movie even exists in the first place.

Image: Marvel Studios

What did you think of the filmmaking?

Tasha: Speaking of miracles, for me, the film’s biggest miracle is the way Ryan Coogler turned a mainstream superhero blockbuster into an unabashed, joyful expression of the Afrofuturism movement. The costumes, the makeup, the accents, the set design, the worldbuilding — they’re all expressly meant to respect and echo the traditions of existing African peoples, but in a modern way. And it results in a film that looks like nothing else I’ve seen onscreen. My favorite part of it is how Shuri’s tech lab looks like the meeting point between Q’s hangout in a James Bond film, an African folk-art exhibit, and a graffiti-punk bar. I love how this movie looks.

Chaim: Strong visual design has never been one of Marvel’s strong points in the past — even the most out-there films in the MCU are all kind of same-y, at a certain point. Black Panther is the first one in a while that looks new. Ryan Coogler fuses African culture and impossibly advanced technology to give the movie an incredible aesthetic unlike anything I’ve seen before. I’m really hoping some of this design bleeds over to the Wakanda-heavy Infinity War coming up because I definitely need more of it.

Bryan: And what makes it really translate is that it’s not just an aesthetic. It’s an exploration of Wakanda, and the country’s culture, in a way that Marvel really hasn’t even bothered trying before. I hit upon this briefly in our review, but all too often, Marvel focuses on buildings and landscapes when it is taking audiences to other worlds. At best, we might get a throne room with some artwork that reveals some key backstory. (I’m looking at you, Thor: Ragnarok.) But Black Panther is about the culture T’Challa came from, one expressed in art, dress, tradition, dance, and its fantastic technological advancements. The ritual with the heart-shaped herb, the rite of passage at Warrior Falls, the art and design work — these are all explorations of what feels like a living, breathing society. It works on a story level, to be sure — we understand why Wakanda’s isolation and uniqueness are worth protecting — but it’s also just glorious from a visual and dramatic perspective. It’s wonderful that Coogler cared about these elements in his script. It’s even more impressive that he was able to realize them in such a riveting way, visually.

If I had to find fault, though? A lot of the hand-to-hand fighting sequences come across as pretty choppy, in a way that surprised me given Coogler’s work in Creed. And while this isn’t really the filmmaker’s fault, that Black Panther suit does look distractingly computer-generated at times.

Image: Marvel Studios

Tasha: The combat scenes in Black Panther are a real problem. In my screening, the casino battle, in particular, was blurry enough that it was difficult to follow what was going on whenever the characters were in motion. And given how much the film’s fights are used to define individual characters, having clashes that just turn into fuzzy visual noise is frustrating. That said, I find the specific fight dynamic of Black Panther’s suit so intriguing. We’ve seen other heroes in this universe that can take bullets without flinching, but here we have someone who deliberately takes big hits in order to power himself up to hit back harder. The choreography of those fights can turn him into a sort of living embodiment of rag-doll physics at times, but it says a lot for T’Challa’s intelligence and skills how quickly he intuits and embraces the ways the suit can change his fighting style. The kinetic absorption makes him a more fearless and aggressive fighter because he feels invulnerable. That makes it even more exciting when he has to find a fight venue that will cancel out the suits, so he can get Killmonger to actually take a meaningful hit.

Chaim: The final showdown didn’t work as well for me. While it’s packed with personal drama for the two conflicting sides of the battle, it ultimately boils down to “Hero fights his dark inverse with identical powers in a different colored suit.” Hasn’t that been the plot of half the Marvel movies at this point? It’s thematically fitting, but compared to the more brightly lit fight outside, I think watching CGI figures with Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan’s faces pasted them, duking it out in a dimly lit tunnel, was a cinematic letdown. I could spend all day watching T’Challa do his kinetic burst attack to send cars and enemies flying, though.

Bryan: The addition of the train to that Killmonger vs. T’Challa battle — conveniently barreling through the action just when it would be as disruptive as possible — was perhaps my least favorite thing about the film. I understand the concept behind it, upping the stakes and the danger as the two men duked it out, and I guess there’s a thematic element involved, since it’s Wakanda’s own advanced technology. But it didn’t work for me. In fairness, though, the fight sequence between the two men at Warrior Falls is so intense and gripping, I don’t know how the movie could have topped that battle.

Tasha: I appreciated the foreshadowing with the introduction of the second suit, though. As soon as it turned up in Shuri’s lab, it was obvious what it would be used for, which builds a lot of tension early on. The MCU movies have had a progressively harder time of evening the odds between iconic heroes who’ve already survived a lot of battles, and Enemy Of The Week Who Will Be Dead By The End Of The Movie. By ritually removing T’Challa’s powers and putting Killmonger in an identical suit, Black Panther places them on even ground. And Killmonger seems more experienced, invested, and angry. So that final fight between them becomes much more about who knows the ground, and who can outthink the other, than about who has better gear or better powers.

Chaim: Yeah, the suit foreshadowing definitely worked, down to the fact that Killmonger would definitely take the flashier, more overstated gold suit. But I’ll agree with Bryan that “Chekov’s Vibranium Sonic Disruption Train” could have maybe been handled a little more subtly.

Image: Marvel Studios

What worked or didn’t for you about Erik Killmonger?

Tasha: Since we’re talking so much about our main villain here, we should focus in on him for reasons other than his fighting tools. Killmonger’s “you killed my father, prepare to die” Inigo Montoya routine seemed so familiar from other tragic-hero backstories that the reveal of his motivations initially left me fairly dubious. But Michael B. Jordan is so charismatic, and I love the contrast between his hipshot, swaggering just-having-fun routine when he’s dealing with adversaries he doesn’t take seriously (like Klaue, or the museum staff, or the flower-tenders) and his raging fury when he’s dealing with his real enemies. I hugely respect a villain who’s allowed to express more than one mood. And then we get to the ritual where Killmonger confronts his father’s ghost — from that point on, I was fully sold on the character. His vulnerability becomes clear, but so does everything he’s done to beat that vulnerability out of himself.

Bryan: For me, it was all about Jordan’s performance, from the moment he showed up on-screen. He’s always had undeniable charisma, but his work in this film just swallows up everything and everyone around him. It reminded me of Alan Rickman’s performance in Die Hard, another situation where the character wasn’t particularly deep on the page, but became iconic, thanks to the magnetic performance of the actor cast in the role.

I do agree his motivation feels a little wanting in the first half of the film. But when he lets loose later on, and we understand that the seed of his childhood betrayal has grown into a massive, furious anger toward all manner of racial injustice, it becomes an incredibly important moment in an incredibly important film. Not just for Marvel, but for American blockbuster cinema. The movie boldly tackles the topic without fear, and it is electrifying.

Image: Marvel Studios

Chaim: I’m still not entirely sold on Killmonger’s entire plan before getting to Wakanda, but yes, Michael B. Jordan completely sells the character. The best villains are those that are the heroes of their own story. Killmonger’s sense of betrayal from Wakanda — both on a personal level through his father, and on a wider cultural level, as someone forced to deal with racial and cultural oppression, while the native Wakandan characters have been able to escape into utopian isolation — makes perfect sense.

It’s easy to imagine a Black Panther movie that stumbles in getting that message across, but Jordan owns it, in a righteous fury that feels all too real. And what’s interesting to me is that the movie ultimately comes down on Killmonger’s side, too: T’Challa does conclude that the entire Wakandan way of life, of hiding away from the problems outside of the world, is wrong, and the movie ends with him taking steps to change that.

Tasha: That in itself feels revolutionary, no pun intended. Superhero/villain face-offs that end with “How can we stop this from happening again?” are pretty common. Face-offs that end with “Well, he was right all along, how can we enact his plan in a less murdery way?”, not so much. In that sense, I actually wish T’Challa wasn’t already getting the same pressure to help the world from his ex-lover Nakia, and wasn’t having his hand forced by Klaue passing intel about Wakanda along to the CIA, or by the need to help Agent Ross survive. It would have been a purer version of Erik’s story if he alone had convinced T’Challa to change his mind.

My one beef with Erik is him casually ordering the destruction of the heart-shaped herb. Yeah, I get that he doesn’t want anyone to use the Black Panther’s powers to challenge him. But as someone so obsessed with carrying on his father’s legacy, and obsessed with the future well-being of black people around the world, shouldn’t he be thinking about his own lineage? Shouldn’t he have some thoughts about giving his children and successors access to the powers he has? Burning the herb is a dramatic choice, but it seems short-sighted to not even mention why he’s doing it.

Bryan: This actually played for me. As much as he’s about reclaiming the Wakandan throne, Killmonger is also very adamant that some of its traditions — namely, the isolationist stance against getting involved with the rest of the world — should be thrown aside. The burning struck me as him making that stance manifest, in one furious wave of rage.

Image: Marvel Studios

Chaim: The decision to burn the heart-shaped herb also has other disappointing ramifications — in the comics, Shuri also consumes the herb, and at one point, she takes over the mantle of Black Panther from T’Challa. And given Letitia Wright’s absolutely delightful, scene-stealing performance as Shuri in the film, it’s a shame that it’s more unlikely that she’ll have the chance to do so in any future Black Panther sequels.

Tasha: I wouldn’t worry about that. Comic-book stories are famous for their takebacks on any death, destruction, or permanent ending that would prevent a later story from moving forward. If a later story needs the heart-shaped herb, all it’ll take is a single shot of one of those attendants quietly pocketing some seeds, or Shuri revealing that, of course, she created a seed library for the plant as it’s Wakanda’s second-most valuable resource after vibranium.

Chaim: Fair enough. I guess what I’m saying is that I’d like a Black Panther movie with even more Shuri, though.

How did you feel about the ensemble cast?

Tasha: Speaking of Shuri, there are a lot of significant roles in this cast, and apart from the leads, the most foregrounded ones are black women. Given the MCU’s relative dearth of those, this film feels like a rapid-fire course correction, and I hope Kevin Feige and his team take advantage of all these fantastic new characters. The MCU has a habit of mix-and-matching its more popular characters into different films, just like the comics that inspired them. (Remember when Wolverine was so popular that he showed up on the cover of everybody’s signature series?) Shuri is the most obvious candidate to wind up anywhere, anytime in the MCU, given her technological acumen and willingness to be a front-line fighter. But personally, I was most drawn to General Okoye, played by Danai Gurira. I love her ferocity and her dedication to her causes. The film gave her just a little fish-out-of-water action at the casino punctures her dignity just enough to make her human, but her determination to serve Wakanda, not just T’Challa, is admirable and gives the film more than one take on duty and honor. I want to see a lot more of her.

Image: Marvel Studios

Chaim: Shuri schooling Tony Stark on technology is now imminently possible, and I hope the good folks at Marvel Studios recognize that they have the power to put this in a movie. But on a more serious note, Black Panther has an almost Shakespearian weight at times, and Letitia Wright’s portrayal was a bright beam of sunshine that cut through the dour moments without regulating her to being mere comic relief.

It’s also a testament to the sheer star power of the cast Coogler put together: we’re deep into this conversation, and we haven’t even gotten to the excellent performances of Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, or Lupita Nyong’o, all of whom are excellent in their respective roles as well.

And if you’re looking for more of Okoye, I’ve got good news for you, Tasha — it looks like the next time we’ll see her, she’ll be right where she belongs: charging front and center at the side of Captain America, Black Panther, and the other Avengers at the head of a Wakandan army.

Tasha: I suppose I should clarify that I want more of General Okoye as a character, not just as an army figurehead. But then, I’ve been fairly impressed with the way Marvel’s ensemble films, from The Avengers to Captain America: Civil War, have found time for at least a little business with all their many characters. So that’s something to look forward to.

In other “more, please” news, I am always there for Angela Bassett, no matter what she’s playing, and I’m sorry to see this film sideline her Queen Ramonda before the real action kicks in. Delighted to see her show up; wish she had more to do.

There are a lot of other characters to consider here, though. And of all of them, Daniel Kaluuya as W’Kabi has the toughest job and the hardest part to sell. The screenplay really doesn’t do him any favors. His emotional journey amounts to “We’re best friends! But you lost one fight with a guy I hate, so you’re dead to me and I’m supporting your murderous rival instead. Also, I’ve changed my mind, let’s be friends again now that my side is losing!” There’s certainly room in this world for a weaselly character who bends whichever way the wind is blowing, but W’Kabi isn’t depicted as that. He’s meant to be a misled symbol of T’Challa’s failings, but instead, he’s an underwritten character who swings back and forth as the plot demands. Kaluuya is a fabulous actor (as we’ve seen in Black Mirror and Get Out), and I wish the script had given him more breathing room.

Image: Marvel Studios

Bryan: Agreed on that. I was excited to see what Kaluuya would do in Black Panther, but while the character is pretty lackluster, the fault definitely does not lie with him.

Along with all of the truly wonderful women warriors in this movie’s world (frankly, I’d be excited to see standalone movies for both Shuri and General Okoye), I was also pleasantly surprised to see Sterling K. Brown appear in the film. It’s a small part, but an emotionally pivotal one. While it may be considered a cheat, Brown’s work on This Is Us has rendered him an emotional divining rod for me. If he’s on-screen in anything, I’m ready to feel sadness, regret, and longing. As Erik Killmonger’s dad, he brings all of that to the role and serves as the anchor for Killmonger’s emotional journey. Michael B. Jordan is always going to be Michael B. Jordan, but Brown’s performance really lets his arc soar.

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