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Just How Hard is a Black Panther Film, Anyway?
By David Brothers
A lot of news broke at San Diego Comic-Con, particularly courtesy of Marvel and Marvel Studios. They’ve been busy, and of course fans wanted to know what else was coming down the line. One of the questions that Marvel Studios reps answered was about a prospective Black Panther film. They discussed the difficulty in getting it right and getting audiences to buy into the concept of Wakanda. A short while later, Marvel announced that their big 2014 blockbuster is going to be Guardians of the Galaxy, a movie featuring a talking raccoon and a tree from outer space. That’s funny, disappointing, and unsurprising all at once. Let me tell you why:
Good read. Black Panther is an amazing character. From what I understand, Anthony Mackie was expressing interest in a BP project within the last few years. Marvel’s on that Hollywood tip, being very hesitant to make a film about a Black character in a primarily Black context without making him the villain. The last time the film industry featured a Black superhero was Hancock who was every bit an asshole. The author was generous with his language calling Marvel’s reluctance to push a BP project forward as “frustrating”. This is coming from the same crew that made Thor.
That movie sucked balls.
They could build Black Panther into the Avengers next film if they wanted to but they not thinking about how to make it work. They’re focused on all the challenges that come with the project.
But ya’ll gonna make another Thor movie? Oh ok.
Makes me wonder what impact Miles Morales’ SpiderMan will have on the fan base beyond the comics. Here we have a young Afro-Latino giving a new perspective on a staple figure in the Marvel Universe and America’s pop cultural pantheon. So far, it’s a successful comic series and is likely bringing new readers to Marvel. But Andrew Garfield probably has two more movies left before someone even considers re-imagining Spidey for the big screen. And even then, Miles may be sitting on the sideline next to an aging T’Challa waiting for Tyler Perry to make Madea a superhero so they have a shot on the big screen.
Tyler Perry, stay away from these characters.
(via peopleofcolor)
