Upon doing further research into the classic Black Panther comic books from the immortal duo Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, I’ve come to the conclusion that Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is as good as a film adaptation we’ll ever get. The late Chadwick Boseman brought so much charisma, physicality, and emotional weight to his portrayal of T’Challa, respectfully honoring his comic book counterpart with grace. Having T’Chaka killed off in Civil War by Zemo was a smart deviation from the comics, and this allowed T’Challa to have a meaningful character arc of becoming king of Wakanda. Letitia Wright as T’Challa’s sister Shuri provided a good amount of comic relief and her chemistry with T’Challa was endearing as it was believable. Coogler does a solid job of giving general viewers a basic crash course on the mythology and lore of Wakanda, whether it be the visuals or exposition. I think it was a smart idea to have Erik Killmonger related to T’Challa, as this makes the conflict feel a whole lot more personal, with Michael B Jordan bringing a ton of passion, humanity, and depth to the ultra radical villain. Killmonger brutally defeating T’Challa in the first fight was an effective way to adapt Jungle Action #6 and in my opinion the best fight scene in the film. Like the comics, conversations about globalism versus nationalism are heavily prevalent in the film and are used in a thought provoking way without ever becoming overly preachy or divisive. The supporting cast is also very entertaining, with Winston Duke’s Man Ape, Forest Whitaker’s Zuri, Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross, and Daniel Kaluuya‘s W'Kabi being my favorites. Andy Serkis is so perfect as Ulysses Klaw (Black Panther’s arch nemesis in the comics), which is why my biggest complaint is that he was killed off halfway through the movie, completely wasting this integral Black Panther and Fantastic Four villain. Another issue I had is having Killmonger use an evil Black Panther suit for the final battle, which took away some of the grit and realism from said fight. Despite these qualms, Black Panther is a mostly faithful adaptation of the comics, brimming with rich Wakandan lore, a riveting main conflict, a killer soundtrack, and a devoted performance by Chadwick Boseman that unfortunately we may never see the likes of for the character of T’Challa on the big screen ever again. Boseman inspired a worldwide phenomenon that is as culturally relevant as it is respectful to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s beloved source material.
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