On October 16, the Black Panther official trailer was released for the world to see.
I started my day at work, scrolling through Twitter to see the majesty before internally sobbing over the fact I was stuck at work and could not enjoy it to its intent. It took me until my lunch break to really watch it but due to my limited time to eat, I could process it as much as I wanted to so I simply watched it once and went back to work.
Two days later and after watching the trailer probably 12 more times since then, I can say that I am still vehemently excited for February and many other people are too.
The Black Panther movie is important not only for the comic book nerds but for the black community in general. I’ve seen people who have never seen a Marvel movie or read the comics, beam from ear to ear when they saw the excitement for this movie. But why is this? Why are we so excited for a film that has the potential to be a disappointment (it will not) and is not even out yet (thanks, Spiderman Homecoming?) Well, it all comes down to symbolism.
I do not speak for all black people nor for all comic nerds, this is how I feel about the movie.
For me, Black Panther is the first movie –– hero movie in particular –– of its kind. That is not to say it is the first black hero movie, Blade was the first in regards to the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) in 1998 and Up, Up and Away was a Disney channel original starring a superhero black family in 2000 with 2016 having the Netflix release of Luke Cage.
But I didn’t see any of those movies until years later and even if I saw them when they were released I still would have to wait 18 years later from UUA and 20 from Blade for the next black hero lead film.
Twenty years is a long time to wait, meanwhile, the current stream of white hero movies has become a norm. Black Panther is the turning tides of the MCU, with many hoping it will be the next generation's answer to Iron Man. It will be what Blade was in 1998, a starting point of a hero genre renaissance.
It is not just the mantle that the movie is taking up that has people excited, it's the concept of it as well. Everything about this movie from the soundtrack choices to casting and even the setting screams black magic. I cannot remember a time where I have seen a black film that wasn’t about slavery, the civil rights movement, inner-city struggles or any wide array of tropes.
But this movie shows us that black people can be more than that. Wakanda, the main setting of the film and the home kingdom of the main character, is a technological marvel and the most (if not one of) advance society in comics. A kingdom in Africa that can handle their own, the envy of all around them with a rich cultural scene with vibrant colors and different types of people in varying fields especially for the leading women.
It is a refreshing change of pace that is desperately needed with the rising political tensions in the United States; seeing our own thriving, the potential of what could have been in an alternate universe, and being our own heroes with the help of our community and not an outside force. This movie is a black experience that we want to treasure, protect, and celebrate.
The recent trailer has a line from a song that says, “The revolution will not be televised.” In that frame of mine, the statement rings true. We are about to enter into a new age through Black Panther, and the masses will be glad to soul train down the theater rows for front row seats.
