What a Marvel: Blank Panther leaps out

Chadwick Boseman reprises his role as T’Challa in his character’s first solo film, Black Panther.

With his father now dead, T’Challa ascends to the throne of Wakanda and is instantly faced with numerous issues protecting the country as both the Black Panther and King.

Matters are complicated even further when Eric “Killmonger” Stevens (Michael B. Jordan) appears to challenge T’Challa for his throne.

Luckily for T’Challa, he’s not alone in his fight. Joining him is his ex-girlfriend/Wakandan spy Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), CIA agent Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) reprising his role from Captain America: Civil War, and T’Challa’s smart-talking younger sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright).

There were so many brilliant and intriguing elements to this film, from the varying style of action scenes and set design, to Wakanda’s culture and mysticism.

Along with his crown being threatened, T’Challa faces another dilemma – whether to continue Wakanda’s isolation or to reach out to the rest of the world.

Every character has different ideas about how they should act. Some want to maintain tradition, others want to provide aid to countries in need, and others think military force is the way to go.

On another note, Killmonger was definitely one of Marvel’s better villains.

While he did have a sympathetic and saddening backstory, he was also intimidating and proved a difficult challenge for T’Challa both physically and emotionally.

I will say that I wish there had been a little bit more of the black-market arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis).

Overall, Black Panther was a unique and wonderful addition to the MCU, having so much that makes it stand out from previous Marvel films. The characters were all brilliantly written and the comedic timing, as usual, was spot on. This is an excellent film to see in a cool cinema on a hot day.