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| photo courtesy of variety.com |
Everything you need to know to get
caught up.
SPOILERS FOR PREVIOUS MARVEL MOVIES, OBVIOUSLY
THE BASICS
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| photo courtesy of engadget.com |
For those of you who haven’t been
keeping up with the comics over the last 50 years or so, here’s the essential
background info. The “Black Panther”
title is the mantle of a warrior, passed on through the generations, who
protects and rules the fictional African nation of Wakanda. When a new warrior
claims the title of Black Panther, he or she eats a heart-shaped herb which
grants them enhanced senses and abilities. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe,
the King of Wakanda and the Black Panther are not necessarily the same person,
though they can be. The main Black Panther in the comics (and the upcoming
movie) is T’Challa (Chadwick
Boseman), who, in addition to his superhuman abilities, is an
honest-to-goodness genius and master tactician.
It’s also important to know that Wakanda—which, for you geography nerds,
is situated in East Africa close to Uganda and Kenya—is an incredibly advanced
nation, where natural vegetation and ancient structures exist alongside modern
skyscrapers. Wakanda is said to be 20-25 years ahead of the rest of the
world—including Tony Stark. This technological sophistication is due in large
part to the country’s large vibranium
deposit (vibranium being the incredibly rare, indestructible metal Captain
America’s shield is made of). To conserve that invaluable resource and protect
their people, Wakanda has remained isolated and hidden from the world, allowing
them to develop in relative privacy... even if S.H.I.E.L.D. was keeping tabs on them as far back as Iron Man 2.
WHERE WE LEFT THEM
While Doctor Strange was learning the
mystic arts and Thor was facing the Asgardian apocalypse, what was Black
Panther up to?
T’CHALLA
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| photo courtesy of cinemablend.com |
T’Challa made his Marvel Cinematic
Universe debut in Captain America: Civil
War back in 2016. During the events of that movie, Wakanda was taking steps
to participate in the global community; they supported the UN’s attempt to
exert some level of control over the Avengers. T’Challa’s father T’Chaka, the
King of Wakanda, was part of that movement until he was killed by an explosion
during a speech at a U.N. summit. T’Challa (who was already the Black Panther at
this point) assumed the Wakandan throne and set out to avenge his father’s
death. Blinded by his need for vengeance, he chased recklessly after the
culprit, revealing his Black Panther alter ego to the world in the process. It
wasn’t until he witnessed the Avengers being torn apart by the destructive
power of revenge that T’Challa cooled off, sparing the villain’s life.
In Black
Panther, we’ll see T’Challa making his return to Wakanda after the events
of Civil War. Since he was overseas
when he assumed the throne, T’Challa will have to consolidate his power base at
home. Unfortunately for him, it looks like he’ll be facing opposition on multiple
fronts. More on that later.
EVERETT ROSS
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| photo courtesy of marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com |
Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) also made
his debut in Civil War. He’s a CIA
agent at the forefront of the UN’s effort to reign in the Avengers, so he was
around when Captain America and Iron Man started up the fireworks. Importantly,
he was in charge when T’Challa’s secret crime-fighting pastime was revealed to
the world. His role in Black Panther
isn’t entirely known, but from the trailers we can gather that a) he will make
a journey to Wakanda and that b) he’ll clash with Ulysses Klaue. Ross may not
be an overt enemy, but it’s unlikely he’s a straightforward ally, either.
ULYSSES KLAUE
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| photo courtesy of cinemablend.com |
You might remember Klaue (Andy Serkis)
from his minor role in Avengers: Age of
Ultron. Klaue is one of the few outsiders who’s been to Wakanda and seen
its vibranium resources. He makes his living as a cutthroat black market
businessman, stealing and selling Wakandan vibranium. Unfortunately for him,
his lucrative line of work attracted Ultron (James Spader), who came to clear
out Klaue’s vibranium resources for his own nefarious purposes. He also cut
Klaue’s arm off, because why not.
By the time of Black Panther, Klaue probably hasn’t quit his profitable black
market trade, which will mean bad times for T’Challa and his allies. What’s
more, Klaue seems to have upgraded his severed arm with a deadly robotic
replacement, so that’s exciting.
OTHER CIVIL WAR CAST MEMBERS
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| photo courtesy of marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com |
There are some other peeps from Civil War who might turn up (but
probably won’t). Captain America (Chris
Evans) was last seen in Wakanda, where he and Bucky Barnes had fled for asylum
after the fight with Iron Man. In all likelihood, Cap will be busy elsewhere,
but seeing as he’s also in Wakanda in the Infinity
War trailers, there’s a chance he’ll make a small appearance, most likely
in a post-credits scene. Bucky Barnes (Sebastian
Stan) is a different story; with his mind still tormented by Hydra’s
experiments, he elected to stay safe in Wakanda in suspended animation until he
can be cured. At most, he might get a name-drop in Black Panther, since the Wakandans are actively working on fixing
his memory with their advanced tech. Lastly, we have T’Chaka. T’Challa’s father may have died in Civil War, but it looks like Black
Panther will make use of flashbacks/visions, so expect T’Chaka to make an
appearance.
FRESH FACES
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| photo courtesy of dailydot.com |
As the first movie in what will
inevitably be a new solo franchise within the Marvel Universe, Black Panther will be more or less
standalone, without a ton of connections to other characters and storylines.
That means that the most interesting characters will be newcomers. Firstly, we
have the new villain, Erik Killmonger (Michael
B. Jordan). Killmonger is a highly-trained Wakandan exile who opposes T’Challa’s
vision for the country. He’ll form an uneasy alliance with Klaue to return to
Wakanda and challenge T’Challa’s rule.
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| photo courtesy of heroichollywood.com |
Additional newcomers include Shuri and Ramonda, the other surviving members of the royal family. Shuri
(Letitia Wright) is T’Challa’s sister and a technological genius whose skill
surpasses Tony Stark’s. Among other things, she’s heading up Bucky Barnes’
rehabilitation. Ramonda (Angela Bassett) is T’Challa’s mother and advisor.
T’Challa will receive some back-up from his elite bodyguard and special forces,
the Dora Milaje, which includes Nakia
(Lupita Nyong’o) and Okoye (Danai
Gurira). Nakia, T’Challa’s ex, works as a Wakandan spy, and Okoye is the leader
of the Dora Milaje. Rounding out the cast we have W’Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya), T’Challa’s best friend, M’Baku (Winston Duke, the leader of an
opposition faction, and Zuri (Forest
Whitaker), a Wakandan elder and spiritual guide.
LOOKING FORWARD
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| photo courtesy of polygon.com |
If you haven’t been keeping up with the
trailers, it looks like Black Panther
will have a big impact on Avengers:
Infinity War, the climactic MCU showdown coming out this May. At least one significant
portion of the movie will take place in Wakanda, and if you can believe the
footage, Wakanda will be a major battlefield. As such, Black Panther and
several of his supporting characters (at least Okoye, Shuri, M’Baku, and Ramonda)
are expected to reprise their roles in Infinity
War—along with nearly every other character in the Marvel Universe. A
number of the core Avengers team will be around to help the Wakandan army in the
battle against big baddie Thanos, including Captain America and Bucky Barnes (out
of hibernation and hopefully rehabilitated after Shuri’s treatment).
Why is Wakanda such a major battlefront
in the war against Thanos’ forces? It’s impossible to say for sure, but there’s
a decent chance that Wakanda serves as the hiding place for the final Infinity
Stone. We know that Thanos will be tracking down the Stones over the course of Infinity War, gaining at least two and
going after another three (the Aether, guarded by the Collector, the Mind Stone
in Vision’s forehead, and the Time Stone in Dr. Strange’s Eye of Agamotto).
Unless Thanos has some other reason to target Wakanda, it makes sense that he’s
hoping to find the final stone, the Soul Stone, there. And if that’s the case, it
seems likely we’ll see the Soul Stone make its debut in Black Panther.
Watch the trailer here.
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| photo courtesy of heroichollywood.com |
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