Black Panther Review

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This year, the comic book world of entertainment offers up a stunning line-up of superhero movies and television series starring the colored heroes of comics, ones that fans should all be thrilled to see, if they haven’t already. These stories reflect the struggles faced by African Americans and natives to the continent, as they manage to touch all aspects of the culture behind the race.

Black Panther is the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it continues the trend of Marvel making incredible movies that everyone can appreciate and enjoy.

Set a week after the events of the previous Marvel film, Captain America: Civil War, we see T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) trying to deal with his father’s death, which occurred in a bombing at the United Nations Headquarters. He is now set to become king of the entire nation of Wakanda, and must learn the lesson that “it is hard for a good man to be king” when old and new threats emerge in the form of Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) and Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan).

To touch upon the specific aspects of the film, the visuals were stunning. The design of the fictional nation of Wakanda, from its buildings to the people, was incredible. What makes this movie very impressive is that the production team crafted a whole entire culture of an African nation, that fans can learn to love and appreciate. Also, the characters were beautifully well developed, such as Killmonger, who wasn’t just a villain doing villainous things for his own warped reasons. There was an actual humanity behind him, a drive that came from loss and pain. He reflects the broken spirit of the past, as he feels the weight of all the turmoil that African Americans have faced throughout history.

In addition, the relationship between T’Challa and his younger sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright), was a great aspect of the movie, which paved a way for a lot of comical interaction between the two, leading the character to really steal the spotlight during many scenes of the movie.

Lastly, the overall message received by the movie was very appropriate to the times. It acknowledged the need for nations to work together in order for a better future, inspiring the idea that we can be separate nations, each one different in our own way, like the five nations of Wakanda, however, we can still work together, in order to become one unified people, making not just a country, but a world, great again.

Black Lightning
While Marvel has been dominating the film industry for over ten years now, DC Entertainment has been doing well with its lineup on the CW television network for quite some time.

This year, a new show joined the likes of Arrow and The Flash, however, it does not appear to take place in the same universe, or “Arrowverse,” as fans would put it. The show takes place in a city taken over by a gang known as the “One-Hundred.” The gang has its hands in drugs, guns, politics, and all kinds of bad, requiring someone to deal with the mess they continue to make in the streets.

This hero comes in the form of Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams), a retired superhero, and high school principal. He has spent the last nine years of his life trying to leave the vigilante life behind, in order to “save more lives as a principle” than he “ever did as Black Lightning.” However, circumstances and old foes will lead him to take up the mantle once again, despite the concerns of his family.

So far, the show is a masterpiece, earning it a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. It is similar to earlier seasons of Arrow, as it is about one man trying to clean up his city, taking on dark themes and realistically evil threats, yet it tends to be more similar to the Netflix series, Luke Cage, which follows a similar storyline of a man with abilities trying to do what is right, and clean up his neighborhood.

Shows like Black Lightning and Luke Cage deal with the problems of hood life, and how it can be a struggle to turn a blind eye to crime, when it is constantly happening in your own backyard, and they do so in a soulful way that is both entertaining and meaningful.

Black Panther is no longer in most theaters, Black Lightning is on the CW on Tuesday nights, and Luke Cage is ready to be streamed on Netflix, with a second season rumored to air later this year. None of these should be missed, so be sure to watch them for wholesome stories based off of the African American heroes of the comic book world.