OPINION: Marvel impresses comic book lovers with revolutionary 2018 film Black Panther

Feb. 15 and experienced record-breaking box office returns, Marvel’s “Black Panther” was set apart from virtually every other superhero movie, and its success carries a wealth of potential for influencing the film industry beyond the comic book genre.

Being that it is the 18th installment in the immensely successful Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has already brought many of our childhood comic book dreams to the silver screen and dominated Hollywood, “Black Panther” would normally be something that the average moviegoer could wave off as yet another story about a person jumping around in tights and fighting bad guys. However, this film’s significance is based in more than the superhuman subject matter. This film stands as a cultural milestone.

It is no secret that Hollywood has been heavily criticized in recent years for a lack of racial diversity in its talent that stand both behind and in front of the camera, and to say that there has been a push for change would be a massive understatement. In the awards season of 2015, the absence of black actors, screenwriters, or directors in the nominations brought about the trending topic of #OscarsSoWhite and sparked a push for more representation in the film industry.

One of the filmmakers who many believed to be snubbed in 2015 was director/screenwriter Ryan Coogler, whose film “Creed” was far better than a “Rocky” spinoff ought to be and was one of the most talked about releases of the year. Three years later, Coogler has written and directed “Black Panther,” which features almost an entirely black cast, and after just one weekend, he has already proven himself yet again as one of the most promising young filmmakers of today.

This is not to say that “Black Panther” came to fruition merely as a political pawn, as the film is prepped to shine in every aspect and has appeal for a widespread audience that many other Marvel movies could only dream of. Starring award winners and nominees like Lupita Nyong’o, Forest Whitaker, Angela Basset, Daniel Kaluuga and Sterling K. Brown, as well as recognizable faces like Michael B. Jordan and Chadwick Boseman, this film has one of the best ensembles of any ethnicity that audiences have witnessed in a long time. The black artistry even extends to the soundtrack, which booms with the powerful beats and lyrics of hip-hop icon Kendrick Lamar, among others.

Before “Black Panther,” a successful comic book movie with a prominent and honorable black hero was unheard of, with Wesley Snipes’ “Blade” the only partial exception. While we’ve seen supporting characters like Anthony Mackie’s “Falcon” and Don Cheadle as War Machine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther stands tall and strong as a king and a hero that people of all cultures and ethnicities can admire. Rolling Stone’s Tre Johnson outlined this in his recent article “Black Superheroes Matter: Why a ‘Black Panther’ Movie Is Revolutionary.”

“Coogler has set out to do something with the modern black superhero that all previous iterations have fallen short of doing: making it respectable, imaginative and powerful,” Johnson said. “The trailers point to a new direction for depicting not only black superheroes, but also how we imagine our heroes.”

Its cultural significance surely showed itself in the presale ticket revenue, which was the most for a film that doesn’t begin with the words “Star Wars,” and the film is also projected to break the record for a February weekend release that currently belongs to fellow Marvel movie “Deadpool” back in 2015. As a result of the film’s respect for the culture and recognition of its importance to moviegoers, audiences across the country have turned out to theaters in droves, which, in an age of Netflix and other instant streaming services, can be a difficult feat to accomplish. The tremendous amount of pride that people have been able to find thanks to this film also cannot go unsaid.

According to Box Office Mojo, as of Sunday, Feb. 18th, the film has grossed $361 million worldwide and is the fifth largest opening weekend of all time. Much like the potential influence of the film’s revolutionary subject matter and diverse cast crew, “Black Panther” has only just begun.

Klinker is a news writer.