I, like so many other Americans, am in love with Black Panther from the moment I saw it.

It's engaging, beautiful, funny, and technically an absolute marvel, (pun intended). It wasn't until the second viewing that I was able to catch the gorgeous cinematography and the tiny details that make Wakana feel lived in and huge, akin to the Wizarding World or Middle Earth.

I could go on for pages about what all makes Black Panther so great, but I want to focus for now on the real world parallels, (or lack thereof), that may surprise you in two African countries: the Congo and Ethiopia.

Ethiopia, like Wakanda, is the only African nation to win the fight against European colonialism. And while it is debatable how much of the country's history influenced Wakanda, the first Black Panther comic appeared in 1966, only three years after then Emperor Halie Selassie first visited JFK in the U.S. That said, the parallels between the histories of nations fictional and real are hard to ignore. Whatever the case, the film is wildly popular there.

In the Congo meanwhile, moviegoers are left to wonder what would have happened had the Cold War turned out differently, and some believe that the country's stores of cobalt, the mineral used in the production of batteries for electric cars and smartphones, could be their path towards becoming a Wakanda for the real world. In reality, the stores of cobalt the country is so proud of have nothing on Wakanda's seemingly endless supply of vibrainium.

Regardless, I applaud all the artists behind this movie for teaching us about African history and sparking important conversations about African infrastructure.