Black Panther writer talks importance of Africa & picking up after Civil War

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

One of the many successes that came out of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR was the addition of two new characters to the MCU—Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland). Though the latter will be getting his own flick next year, we still have to wait till 2018 before we get to see Panther pounce back onto the big screen, courtesy of director Ryan Coogler. If I had a time machine I would use it only to go into the future and see this movie. Stopping Hitler? Nah, I’ve been to Germany once and I’m not going back.

Anyway, seeing as how time machines don’t exist yet we have to wait patiently for tidbits of information from the people working on the movie. Luckily, one of those tidbits just dropped during an interview writer Joe Robert Cole did with /Film.  He talked about the importance of the nation Wakanda, and Africa as a whole, in terms of creating the story:

Africa is such a huge nation. There are so many countries, each of them with different histories, mythologies, and cultures but what we tried to do was hone in on some of the history, some of the cultural influences and then extrapolate out in our technology, extrapolate out in how we see Wakanda and the different parts of the country and the culture of the country as well. So we wanted to root it in reality first and then build out from there, so we’d feel pretty authentic and grounded.”

Last we left Panther, it was during the mid-credits scene in CIVIL WAR where he was (*SPOILER*) back in Wakanda helping Captain America (Chris Evans) and Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) by freezing the latter until they can cure his…being an evil hitman, I suppose. The story for PANTHER, according to Cole, will pick up right after that.

Our standalone movie will begin shortly after Civil War ends. So we’ll be able to see him mourning and him starting to take command as king of his own nation. Lots of things are going to occur within regards to that. The country will be under threat from inside and out so we’ll learn what Wakanda is, that nation, as the most technologically advanced nation on the planet. Also, as Wakanda’s rise to prominence happens, it will affect the MCU moving forward which is really exciting.”

Though I'm excited to see all of Marvel’s upcoming films, this one has me the most curious. Cole is up for an Emmy for his work writing one of the two episodes he did for the staggeringly successful THE PEOPLE VS. O.J. SIMPSON, so I'm sure he can bring PANTHER justice. Coogler nailed his first outing with FRUITVALE STATION, and continued to prove he was a major talent by bringing that same skill to CREED. The dude only has two major movies under his belt, and they’re both near perfect. Now we will see how he functions with a huge blockbuster movie, and if it’s going to be as grounded as Cole says, I think he’ll nail this one too. Plus, if Panther is just as awesome here as he was in CIVIL WAR, life will be good.

BLACK PANTHER is set return to theaters on February 16, 2018 with Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis and Danai Gurira.