Black Panther – Everything We Know

Following last week’s announcement of the Phase 3 line-up, I have decided to write about each of the movies announced, listing comic background and everything we know. So far, I have done Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, and Thor: Ragnarok. That makes today Black Panther day, which I have been looking forward to for a good while now.

Black Panther is one of the characters that many fans have been asking for on the big screen for a while. T’Challa is the Prince (later, King) of Wauconda, an African nation. This nation is built on top of the richest supply of Vibranium on Earth, basically the only place that the metal comes from. The name “Black Panther” is more of a title than a name. It signifies the ruler of Wauconda.

Black Panther started out in the Fantastic Four, but basically found his calling in the Avengers, joining back in 1968. He has spent time in and out of the Avengers, maintaining a careful balance between his roll as King and his roll as Avenger. He sees it as his responsibility to his nation to save the world from global threats.

Chadwick Boseman has been cast as T’Challa. Boseman is known for his rolls in 42 and Draft Day. His character will debut in one of two places: Age of Ultron or Captain America: Civil War. His early casting, especially in light of the 2017 release date, indicates that he may have a small roll sooner. I would not be surprised to see a cameo in Age of Ultron. If he doesn’t, then he has been heavily rumored (in my opinion, these are legitimate hearings) to be in Captain America: Civil War. The character will then go on to his own movie the following year.

We have also received concept art of what we can expect from his costume. Check it out:

I’ll be honest, I think it would have been hard to screw up the Black Panther’s costume, but I’m happy to say they didn’t, in my opinion.

Of course, the hero is only as great as the villain he stops. Who can we expect to face up against the Panther?

The obvious choice is Ulysses Klaw. In short, if T’Challa had a arch-nemesis, it would probably be Klaw. Klaw is obsessed with vibranium, which has often put him at odds with T’Challa. He uses the substance to form sonic weaponry. There was recently an image from the Age of Ultron which showed Andy Serkis dressed suspiciously like Klaw.

I wrote a full article about that here.

Of course, this is unconfirmed. Another possibility is Man-Ape, who fought against T’Challa in most versions of his origin story. The Earth’s Mightiest Heroes origin episode for Black Panther, although focusing mostly on T’Challa’s father and Man Ape, pretty well demonstrates the nation of Wauconda, the Black Panther name, and even Klaw. If you have five minutes to spare, check it out here:

The Black Panther movie is on its way. The fans have asked, the gods of Marvel have answered. We can expect it in 2017. As for the details, focusing on Wauconda or elsewhere, who the villain is, and really most things in general, only time will tell.