Today, Variety dropped some exclusive news regarding Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Insiders at Variety reported earlier today that Coel would be joining the elite cast of the film amid airtight details surrounding the ensemble.
Continue reading “Michaela Coel Set to Join Incredible Cast of ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’”
Since the passing of legend, icon, and super hero Chadwick Boseman last year, the idea of passing the mantle of the Black Panther off to anyone else has been met with understandable apprehension. The entertainment, comic book, and pop culture world was stunned by the news of Chadwick’s passing last year after learning about his personal battle with colon cancer and countless roles and activities he committed to while battling his illness.
Continue reading “Christopher Judge to Voice T’Challa in ‘Marvel’s Avengers’”
It’s been a long time. We shouldn’t have left you without a dope pod to listen to.
In the Bantu language Xhosa, Ulwimi olunye alwanelanga tu means “One language is never enough.” In the wake of Chadwick Boseman’s passing, there is an inconceivable grief rippling across language barriers and cascading through communities and countries. The letters on my keyboard look like a jumbled mess — trying to use language to communicate this loss is an act I am unfamiliar with.
Continue reading “Chadwick Boseman Was a Source of Light in My Understanding of a Black Hero”
History was made this morning when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled its list of honorees celebrating the films of 2018 and named Black Panther as one of the nominees for Best Picture. While plenty of comic book films have received nominations over the decades, no superhero film had ever been nominated for the most prestigious prize of the night. The Dark Knight came closest in 2009 — winning a posthumous Best Supporting Actor award for Heath Ledger and prompting the Academy to expand its nomination list from five to ten the following year.
Continue reading “‘Black Panther’ Breaks the Oscars’ Superhero Ceiling”
by Benjamin To
I finally understand now why this machine took ten years to assemble. This film is pure spectacle in every best sense of the word. Once the first second starts rolling, it’s all pedal to the metal for 149 minutes.
Continue reading “What Worked (and Didn’t) in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’”
Black Panther is to cinema as Rakim is to Hip-Hop.
I stand by this statement.
Originally posted at Pop Culture Collab
“It’s Panther season, family.”
My cousin recently said this to me after I asked how her freshman year at an Ivy League university was going. Let’s be clear, by no means is my cousin a comic book or superhero film fan. She always teased me for being an “Afrogeek” and wondered why I loved superheroes, horror, science fiction, and related genres.
But she was one of the scores of black audience members so excited about Black Panther, the latest superhero film released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), that she and “a couple dozen” of her friends bought early tickets to the February 16 premiere. Every one of them wore an African-inspired outfit.
When I teased her for “coming over to the geek side,” she laughed at me like she knew something I didn’t. “This is not about comic books or superheroes, cousin,” she rebutted. “This is about culture.”
She made me wonder: Why has Black Panther transcended both its comic book and superhero film roots and typical fandoms?
Continue reading “‘Black Panther’ Ignites the Next Generation of Fandom Movements”
Did your browser crash when trying to buy early tickets for Black Panther? Is the movie sold out opening day at your local cinema? Well, if you’re in the DMV (D.C./Maryland/Virginia), we’re teaming up with Fantom Comics to offer a lucky NOC follower two first class tickets to Wakanda!
Continue reading “DMV Nerds: Win Tickets to a Screening of ‘Black Panther’”
If you haven’t heard by now, the Black Panther teaser trailer has been released. And it’s pretty lit! Check out the trailer below:
If the first two Captain America films are any indication, I’ve learned not to watch them with any expectations good or bad. Like most of the Marvel Phase One films, I found First Avenger to be a yawn and filler for the payoff that was the first Avengers movie. Winter Soldier blindsided me and years later I’m still trying to process how amazing that film is.
As much as I love Winter Soldier (it along with Avengers and Age of Ultron rank as my favorite Marvel flicks), and even though I knew I would finally get the Black Panther in this film, I still watched with no expectation.
Continue reading “A Non Spoiler Review of Captain America: Civil War“
Originally posted on Ebony.com
What was meant to be a celebratory moment for (Black) comic book fans turned out offensive. This week’s Entertainment Weekly turned the highly anticipated reveal of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s interpretation of the first Black superhero into a fiasco of epic proportions. T’Challa, king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda (also known as the hero Black Panther), got sonned by EW.
Last night on a special all-Marvel edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live (corporate synergy, yay!), stars Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. were on to hype next summer’s Captain America: Civil War. Unsurprisingly, Disney and Marvel Studios used the opportunity to unveil the hotly anticipated first trailer, and predictably, the internet lost its shit. But in a good way!
Continue reading “Thankful for the Captain America: Civil War Trailer”
Because Hollywood never learns its lesson, Summer 2016 is going to bring yet another whitewashed movie about Ancient Egypt. Late last week Lionsgate shocked the world and unveiled character posters for God of Egypt, a movie that, until now, literally no one had heard about. Then yesterday, they dropped an even more ridiculous trailer.
Continue reading “Remember the Time When Ancient Egypt was White?”
Black Panther is having a moment. And it’s looking evidently clear that 2016 will officially be the Year of the Panther.
Not only is the character being primed for his big screen debut next summer in Marvel Studios’ blockbuster Captain America: Civil War — played by Chadwick Boseman — setting the stage for his own cinematic feature two years later, the comics version is going to get some shine as well since Ta-Nehisi Coates, one of the country’s greatest and most important writers, is making his superhero comics debut on Black Panther #1 next spring.
I mean, why else would a new comic creative team be exclusively announced in The New York Times?
Continue reading “Between the World and Wakanda: Ta-Nehisi Coates to Write Black Panther“
About a week and a half ago, Marvel Studios (owned by Disney) and DC Entertainment (owned by Warner Brothers) got into a bit of a pissing contest. Marvel struck first by announcing Robert Downey Jr. would be bringing Iron Man to the Captain America sequel, setting up a “Civil War” story line in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and making it the highest profile superhero vs. superhero showdown of 2016 (sorry, Batman v Superman).
The next day, Warner Brothers unveiled its long-gestating slate of DC Comics-based films that was supposed to satiate fanboys’ appetites through 2020. While a lot of folks found some of the choices in Warner’s ambitious schedule confounding — including yours truly — the one area where DC had a leg up on Marvel was in the diversity of its lineup. In addition to the inclusion of solo movies for Wonder Woman (finally!) and Cyborg (huh?), you also had people of color top-lining two more films — Jason Momoa in Aquaman and Dwayne Johnson in Shazam. As groundbreaking as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is, it’s also overwhelmingly white and male. At least until today.
It’s no secret that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been pretty lilly-white since its inception. Aside from Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Don Cheadle as War Machine, the Marvel films heretofore have not featured very many heroes of color. That’s why so many Nerds of Color — including our very own Shawn Taylor whose advice on “How Not to Screw Up a Black Panther Film” is must reading, by the way — have been clamoring for a live action Black Panther for so long. Well, the rumor mill went into overdrive this week when Latino Review’s El Mayimbe sent out the following tweet:
