Panther's Pray

For Many, The Black Panther Film Was A Long Time Coming Long Before The Movie, Long Beyond Hollywood

By Aaron Rahsaan Thomas

I’ve been hyped to see a Black Panther movie since I was four years old, wondering why there were so few African American super heroes on film who could be taken seriously. Much respect to Shaft, but I also yearned to see heroes who could take on larger than life problems. As much as I love Wesley Snipes’ Blade (Part 2 remains a classic), he was never necessarily presented as a three-dimensional character, or even acknowledged as being African American. Black Panther is different. The title itself establishes that this is a mainstream, big budget Hollywood movie that deliberately leans into the idea of a proud African hero, played by the talented Chadwick Boseman.

I’ve been hyped to see a Black Panther movie since the first time I visited Ghana. Seeing the African continent opened my eyes to how it is portrayed on the big screen. Along with engaging a desire from an orphan population of African Americans to reconnect with our roots, Black Panther offers the idea of an African nation unblemished by colonialism. The nation of Wakanda represents what might be possible if Africans were able to develop on their own and seek to maximize their knowledge, wisdom and natural resources. The movie seems like it will engage in metaphor on many levels as the plot is said to involve priceless natural resources (the metal Vibranium) valued by an antagonistic white man with a suspiciously South African accent, Klaw, played by Andy Serkis. The movie itself is a super hero. In an era when third world countries are overlooked and underestimated, Wakanda serves as a metaphor for Africans and African American individuals. For years, all we seemed to have was Zamunda from Eddie Murphy’s Coming To America, but Wakanda has overtaken it as the preferred fictional destination.

Aaron Rahsaan Thomas is a CBS Television Executive Producer currently working on the hit series "S.W.A.T"

I’ve been hyped to see a Black Panther movie since brilliant storytellers like Christopher Priest, Reggie Hudlin and Ta-Nehisi Coates revitalized the character in graphic novels and comic books. The love and attention to detail that they brought to the character expanded the possibilities of what a super hero could be and how to balance adventure and suspense with political intrigue and romance (Black Panther and Storm forever).

I’ve been hyped to see a Black Panther movie since it was in development at Marvel Studios. Grew more hyped when I saw that Marvel wanted the great Ava Duvernay to direct it. Was even cool when Ava stepped away, because Marvel hired Ryan Coogler, a fellow USC film school grad to direct it and a friend of mine, Joe Robert Cole, to co-write it. I geeked out when I heard they were inspired by James Bond spy movies when creating this story for Black Panther. This is the rarest of movies, a big budget special effects flick done for us, by us. Not only are the director and co-writer African American, but so are most of the main cast (shout outs to Michael B. Jordan, Daniel Kaluuya and the legendary Forest Whitaker) and many crewmembers, including Ruth E. Carter, the extremely talented costume designer and Hannah Beachler, the production designer. The much-heralded Director of Photography is Rachel Morrison, a white woman.

I’ve been hyped to see a Black Panther movie since I saw the first trailer and it wasn’t even because of Black Panther. It was the Dora Milaje, the elite royal guard of women who are fierce and unlike anything Hollywood has ever seen (Danai Gurira and Florence Kasumba are not to be messed with). Add to that Angela Bassett as Black Panther’s mother, Letitia Wright as his sister and Lupita Nyong’o as his partner and love interest and you have a unicorn movie. Rarely does a new release galvanize both African American men and women in large numbers. While there’s a history of movies that galvanize female audiences, such as Waiting To Exhale, Beloved, The Best Man series, etc., there are only a few movies that, prior to release, appealed to both genders in this way. I think back to Spike Lee’s Malcolm X in 1992 for the last “holiday film” – meaning, African Americans will take off work to see it on opening day. Black Panther is the rare movie that hits on every quadrant of its intended audience.

I’ve been hyped to see a Black Panther movie since forever, but I’m even more hyped to see the NEXT Black Panther movie. The next movie that galvanizes us as an audience. Ava Duvernay’s A Wrinkle In Time is up next and my hope is that the idea of a mainstream big budget flick with African Americans prominently involved will become a more common occurrence in the future. If Black Panther can help pull that off, he may be the biggest super hero we’ve ever seen.