In the 2018 movie Black Panther, Killmonger challenges T'Challa for the throne of which kingdom?
And the answer: Wakanda.
Directed by Ryan Coogler, Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa, who is crowned king of Wakanda following his father's death. The movie received seven Academy Award nominations, winning three, and became the first superhero film ever to be nominated for Best Picture.
Black Panther is one of the most acclaimed Marvel movies in the highly-grossing cinematic universe. The project was sought-after long before Chadwick Boseman hit the silver screen – in fact, before Coogler was approved to direct in 2016, the fight for license for the movie had been raging since 1992. Though, Black Panther's inception dates back even further: the superhero made his debut in 1966, an era during which racial tensions ran rampant and a Black superhero was novel. Yet the superhero left behind the clichés of the time period to paint the picture of a king, unaffected or subsumed by Western influence, who celebrates his own tradition among the magnificence of his people.
This strong message contributed to Black Panther's success, and ultimately lead to the first Oscar in the superhero genre. The movie also generated $1.3 billion at the box office (from an initial budget of $200 million), becoming the ninth most profitable movie of all time. Further, the film's score was a hit. Rather than the heavy rock of Iron Man or orchestral productions of other Disney films, Black Panther features some of the most prominent Black artists of today: Kendrick Lamar, Vince Staples, Jorja Smith, Travis Scott and more. Upon its release, the soundtrack remained at Billboard's number one spot for two weeks.
The extensive research, beautiful cinematography, effective soundtrack and Black-led film production team and cast came together to create a film true to the brand's name: marvelous. Black Panther remains one of the most popular Marvel movies of the decade, and one of the late Chadwick Boseman's most successful works.
Check out the film's trailer below.
