The cast of “Black Panther” answers why the film is so unique

Marvel’s “Black Panther” hits theaters in just a few short days. It has already opened to rave reviews, with much of the credit going to its ‘uniqueness.’

But what exactly makes Marvel’s next super hero movie unique? A number of the cast members and filmmakers were on hand at the film’s global press conference a few weeks ago to answer that question in a few ways, each one challenging the way a major superhero film is made.

Leading Ladies

“I would say what I love about the way this film represents women is that each and every one of us is an individual, unique and we all have our own sense of power and our own agency and we hold our own space without being pitted against each other.” – Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia)

African Concepts

Commenting on how the theme of siblings translates in the film: “My older siblings, they raised me. And so to a certain degree when I say ‘I allow her’ – I don’t mean it like that. [You mean it like] you see the genius that is inside the people who come after you. And if you have an ancestor around, they’re looking at you like ‘I know you’re looking up to me, but we’re looking up to you.’ That’s a Wakandan concept. That’s an African concept, really.” – Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa/Black Panther)

Racial Themes

“The truth of the matter is Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and the whole Marvel bullpen created Wakanda and created T’Challa and created Black Panther and made him a smarter, more accomplished character than any of the other white characters in the mid 1960s (right in the middle of segregation in the United States). So they had the guts to do that in the mid 1960s.”

He continued, “The least we can do is live up to that and allow this story to be told the way it needed to be told and not shy away from things that the Marvel founders didn’t shy away from in the height of the Civil Rights era.” – Kevin Feige (Producer/Marvel Studios president)

Music by Kendrick Lamar

While it wasn’t mentioned at the press conference, the film’s official music album written and performed by Kendrick Lamar, contains a very diverse set of songs that speak to a lot of the themes and messages the film has. Read the New York Times review of the album HERE.

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“Black Panther” hits theaters on February 16, 2018.