My Thoughts On The "Black Panther" Trailer

For starters let's get one important thing out of the way, this is NOT a teaser trailer, this is a full on trailer! A teaser is like 30 to 45 seconds long, this is a full on minute and some change. And in that minute and some change we get a good look at a few things that I wanna address so let's talk about it and see what we see.

Ever since his introduction in "Civil War", Black Panther has been one of the MOST talked about superheroes up and coming in the MCU and lo and behold a Black Panther movie is finally here. Chadwick Boseman has the chops to be a leading man, cutting his teeth with "42" and after "Civil War", it's proven that he IS indeed T'Challa. However, now that we're here what exactly will this movie explore? Black Panther is NOT a superhero the same way Wonder Woman is NOT a superhero. Black Panther is a legendary guardian of Wakanda. Wakanda in Marvel history is one of the largest Vibranium deposits in the world, selling this resource in minute amounts allowed Wakanda to grow and expand to become one of the most technologically advanced societies in the modern world. The trailer really showcases how far Wakanda is ahead of the rest of the world.

Setting that aside, let's talk about the exact nature of Black Panther that I discussed earlier. T'Challa is not your stereo-typical billionaire in a costume fighting bad guys, no, T'Challa is a king and the leader of a sovereign nation. What I'm saying is he's got responsibilities that he can't abdicate to an underling like Tony Stark does with Pepper and Happy. He's not running a country, he's running a nation and not only running it but protecting it. That's a lot for one man to do. Unlike other Marvel movies, here is an opportunity to get more political because T'Challa's very being is political in nature. He's already involved himself in world affairs in "Civil War" exposing his identity and signing The Sokovia Accords. He's brawled on U.S. soil and is currently harboring fugitives of the law (Captain America & Bucky Barnes).

Not only that but he has his own problems in making sure the front of Wakanda stays in place and this could lead to a lot of diplomatic issues if it ever got out what Wakanda was hiding. This leads me to the villain of the film and I doubt that will be Ulysses Claw, Andy Serkis is a great but Claw is not a good enough villain to keep the film going. Michael B. Jordan is Erik Killmonger, and Killmonger has an interest history with Black Panther that Claw can help usher in. Long story short, Erik attempted to usurp the throne/leadership of T'Challa after T'Challa got mixed up with The Avengers. Lo & behold those same events did indeed happen in the film, Wakanda was without a ruler while T'Challa was hunting his father's killer. This isn't to say that don't have a council of elders or people they could turn to, BUT when there is no standard leadership strong personalities can rise to the top. Michael B. Jordan has enough chops and charisma to pull this off IF that's the direction they're going with him. That being said though...couldn't they have given him some dreads instead of...

With all that being said this movie looks like it's going to be a good time and a fun ride through and through and I'm very much looking forward to it. Let me know what you think and I'll catch you guys on the flip top!