Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’ may become the biggest and blackest blockbuster of all time

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

The big screen debut of comic book character Black Panther, played by Chadwick Boseman in Marvel’s latest hit, Captain America: Civil War, already has us excited for his solo film. However, our geekdom has reached an all-time high after learning that Academy Award-winner Lupita Nyong’o may be a possible cast member and that now Michael B. Jordan will join the roster of actors in the comic book movie.

-Lupita Nyong’o In Talks To Star In Black Panther

While it is unclear what character Jordan will be playing in the movie, this casting marks a reunion for Jordan with Creed director Ryan Coogler.

Jordan will be joining Chadwick Boseman, who is playing the titular character, and Nyong’o is reportedly in negotiations to star alongside Boseman, possibly as a love interest.

The character of Black Panther is a prince named T’Challa from a fictional African nation called Wakanda. The fictional prince will face challenges in his home country in the upcoming movie as he rises to the throne following his father’s death.

-Slideshow: Classic Black Comic Book Characters

Black Panther will be Marvel Studios’ first film featuring a black superhero as the title character, and the film studio seems to understand the historical significance of the character.

The Black Panther was perhaps the first black mainstream comic book superhero when he was created in 1966. The comic book character pre-dates the Black Panther Party by months, and the fact that the two share a name is coincidental.

The character’s alter-ego is an African king named T’Challa who rules the fictitious nation of Wakaanda, which is also supposed to be one of the world’s most technologically advanced in the Marvel Universe. He was even married to the X-Men leader Storm at one point.

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The film studio’s comic book publishing counterpart also seems to want to provide real authenticity to the character’s portrayal in its pages. African-American social commentator and critically acclaimed author of Between the World and Me Ta-Nehisi Coates is currently penning the new Black Panther comic book run.

While the main cast is panning out to be majority black, Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis is also rumored to have a big role as the lead villain. Given Marvel’s track record at the box office, it’s very likely that Black Panther will become the biggest and blackest blockbuster movie of all time. Unfortunately we’ll all have to wait until the movie is released on Feb. 16, 2018, to find out.

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