It has been quite some time since we’ve seen a black superhero hit the big screen in a solo movie. One of the last ones I remember watching as a child was Marvel’s fierce action movie “Blade, ”starring Wesley Snipes in 1998. The movie was a commercial success and received generally positive audience reviews.
“Blade” spawned two sequels, “Blade II” and the underwhelming “Blade: Trinity.” Since then we’ve seen only two black superheroes hit the big screen in solo movies, the awful DC Comics movie “Catwoman,” starring Halle Berry, in 2004 and the wildly successful movie “Hancock,” starring Will Smith, in 2008.
For 10 years there has been no black superheroes to hit the big screen as major lead roles, until “Black Panther” was released. “Black Panther” one-upped every other black superhero movie ever. Not only does this movie feature an almost all-black cast, but it also takes place in Africa and has a superb soundtrack featuring all black artists produced by the great Kendrick Lamar.
When “Black Panther” finally came to theatres on Feb. 18, audiences went crazy. The pre-ticket sales for this film cracked the top five highest-selling pre-ticket sales of all time. The movie currently holds a 97 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has just become the highest-grossing superhero movie of all time in the U.S. and Canada, surpassing Marvel’s smash hit “The Avengers.”
“Black Panther” quickly became ceremonial for its African-American viewers. Some came to watch the movie in crowns, dashikis and other traditional African clothing to symbolize black empowerment. Many companies began making T-shirts with a popular slogan from the film, “Wakanda Forever!”
After seeing this display of African pride, some white viewers asked questions like, why is this movie such a big deal? It’s just another superhero movie. But the truth is that “Black Panther” is way more than just a movie for African-American viewers.
For white viewers, they have no issue finding representation of themselves in the media. They’re plenty of successful TV shows and movies that feature a white main character or an all-white cast. Most of the superheroes we see on the big screen are white. Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Batman and Superman are all white.
No, Black Panther isn’t the first African-American superhero to be on the big screen in 10 years. We’ve seen superheroes like Falcon in “Captain America”, War
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.