Still reeling from this morning’s blistering new trailer? We wouldn’t blame you.
Though Thor: Ragnarok is poised to rule over theaters (and the box office!) in three weeks’ time, Marvel is now beginning to drum up excitement for Black Panther, the Ryan Coogler-directed spinoff that will soon welcome us into the fictional nation of Wakanda.
It’s the place where myth and science meet, essentially, given it’s perched on top of a vast reserve of Vibranium – the same metal that lines the suit of T’Challa himself, not to mention Cap’s shield. And it’ll also play host to the first Marvel spinoff movie headed up by a black superhero.
Ushered in as the rightful king of Wakanda following the death of his father (T’Chaka) in Captain America: Civil War, Chadwick Boseman’s titular hero returns home to an immense power struggle, as Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) begins to stake a claim to the throne. Equipped with the so-called “Golden Jaguar” suit, Killmonger is a force to be reckoned with, as this screenshot captured by ComicBook.com reveals:
From Iron Man to the original Ant-Man movie, Marvel Studios has a long and storied history of bolstering its villains with abilities and/or suits that are practically the same as their sworn adversary (evil doppelgängers, if you will) and it looks like Black Panther is about to lean on that overly familiar trope come 2018. Of course, with such a talented cast at their disposal, here’s hoping Ryan Coogler and his team will be able to find nuance within the ol’ superhero origin story.
“I have seen gods fly. I’ve seen men build weapons that I couldn’t even imagine. I’ve seen aliens drop from the sky…but I have never seen anything like this.” Following its UK launch on February 9th, Marvel’s Black Panther spinoff will scurry over to North America in time for February 16th. It’s one of three major tentpoles poised to enter the MCU in 2018, with the other two being Avengers: Infinity War and Peyton Reed’s miniature sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp.