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Into the MCU: "Black Panther" (2018)


For decades, comics have been written primarily for white men, with very little representation of other cultures and races... and when those other cultures and races were shown, they were usually shown as ridiculously derogatory stereotypes.

The same can be said for movies.

Fortunately, as time has gone by, things have improved... giving us movies like 2018's "Black Panther"...

His father dead, T'Challa returns to Wakanda to ascend to the throne.  But his rule is threatened as a shadowy man by the name of Erik Stevens is determined to take the thrown for himself... and take Wakanda to war...

While it's not the best of the MCU films, I found "Black Panther" to be an exceptionally entertaining, and emotionally satisfying film.  The story really build the history, and culture of Wakanda and the "tribes" that comprise it.  To be honest, I found the culture building to be THE best part of the movie for me- though the "palace intrigue" storyline was pretty solidly written as well... but was hampered by the "box" of superhero tropes overall.

"Black Panther" showed an interesting dichotomy when it came to the characters.  They were all very simple archetypes in the roles the characters played, but they were also complex, and believable in terms of their emotions, and internal conflicts.  Unlike most of MCU movies about "good guys" VS "bad guys", the antagonist and protagonists in this movie refuse to be pigeon holed into a stereotypical cookie cutter role.  You come to even like, relate to, and sympathize with the antagonist.  I would love to see more sympathetic villains within the MCU.

If you want engaging characters, and an interesting story, "Black Panther" would certainly fill that want.  I must confess though, that the characters, and the culture building isn't enough to make me watch it repeatedly.  I'm going to have to give it a "Bad".

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