Importance Of Oakland
Sticking with Killmonger for a moment, Black Panther switches his comic book hometown of Harlem for Oakland, California. It’s a small change, but it adds an extra personal and thematic dimension to the film.
First of all, Oakland is the hometown of Ryan Coogler, so it’s clear that he put a lot of his own childhood experiences in those flashback scenes to Killmonger’s youth. Secondly, it also just so happens that Oakland is the city where the Black Panther Party originates from. Comic book fans may know that Stan Lee originally named his Marvel superhero after the socialist organization, which were very prominent in the 1960s.
Lastly, the end of the movie sees T’Challa return to Oakland and promise to build a Wakandan Outreach Centre to improve the neighbourhood. While there, he talks to a kid playing basketball. This is Alex Hibbert, who played Little Chiron in the Oscar-winning Moonlight. He even nabs the loaded last line of the movie: “Who are you?”