Letter of Recommendation: Black Panther

I had the good fortune of seeing Black Panther the weekend it opened in Vegas with a festive full house, many of whom were dressed as their favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe character or in African regalia. I’ve seen the movie multiple times since, and honestly I think I would list it in my top 20 favorite movies–possibly even my top 10. I thought it would be a good week to write about it because the trailer for its sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, just dropped, and Roxane Gay has a great piece in the NYTimes about director Ryan Coogler’s decision not to recast King T’Challa for the sequel at least (as you may know, Chadwick Boseman, the iconic performer of T’Challa in the MCU, passed away shockingly young from colon cancer 2 years ago).

Why do I like Black Panther so much? Well, to start, it’s a really good movie, full stop. Even if you’re not into superhero movies, the superhero part of this movie is completely organic–tapping into Black power rather than some sort of imaginary superpowers. The plot is gripping, the writing is good, the acting is first rate, and the camera work and special effects are nothing short of stunning: I still get chills every time I see Wakanda come onscreen for the first time in the film. Second, Black Panther features a functionally all-Black cast–the first ever in the MCU and a rarity outside it–and the A-list of that category to boot. Third, the Afro-futurism in the movie is nothing short of revelatory. From the speculative technology to the costumes to the set design, it taps into a long and underexposed (in Hollywood at least) philosophical tradition that asks the crucial question: What if African scientists had been at the forefront of global technoscientific development instead of Euro-American ones? Finally, the movie tackles head-first the dilemma of what is the best response to structural anti-Black racism. It presents at least two compelling answers, doesn’t shy away from the downside of each, and leaves the question at least a bit open at the end. I learned a lot by watching what was in essence W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington’s debate dramatized on a big screen 100 years later.

So if you haven’t seen Black Panther, now’s the time, before the new movie drops in November. I know it’s available via Netflix’s DVD service and also on Disney+, but you can probably find it elsewhere as well. Trust me–even if superhero movies aren’t your jam, you owe yourself this one.