"further cultivates the universe that Marvel have built over the last decade, giving us an important and game changing film"

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a franchise that is showing no signs of slowing down, this year alone we get three Marvel Studios Productions, Ant-Man and The Wasp later this year after Avengers: Infinity War, with the MCU goodness kicking off with the subject of the review, the phenomenal Black Panther.

Following his screen debut in 2016’s incredible Captain America: Civil War, we are reacquainted with T'Challa aka Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) just a week after the events of Captain America: Civil War, which claimed the life of his father T'Chaka (John Kani), as he and his trusted General Okoye (Danai Gurira) are on a mission where they get reacquainted with Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o).

Black Panther is largely set in the nation of Wakanda, and it is simply beautiful, I haven’t read the comics, and my only interaction with Black Panther has been his appearances in cartoons during my childhood, and the aforementioned Captain America: Civil War, so I can imagine that those that have, won’t be disappointed by the realisation of the hidden nation.

The action in the film is palpable, showing how agile this hero is, his fighting style is dance like with a definite flow to it, Chadwick Boseman brings vulnerability and strength to T'Challa aka Black Panther as he must balance his life as the King of Wakanda and its Protector.

Letitia Wright’s Shuri, is a definite stand out for me, she is the tech genius of Wakanda that would give Tony Stark a run for his money, she is extremely adept at working with Vibranium and gets into the action, similarly the aforementioned Nyong'o and Gurira as Nakia and Okoye respectively show themselves to be formidable forces to be reckoned with; Okoye is the head of the Dora Milaje, the armed forces of Wakanda and Nakia is a covert operative, and they are not sidelined, they have ample to do and do not pull their punches, which is something that is important in Cinema; displaying that the women of Black Panther are just as important as their male counterparts including Martin Freeman’s Everett K. Ross having more to do, proving himself to be a great ally to Black Panther and Wakanda.

Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger is a well rounded villain, and whilst I don’t agree with what he did during the film, you can empathise and see his point of view, understanding his motives, and his teaming with Andy Serkis’ Ulysses Klaue was thrilling to watch, with a fair few poignant scenes.

Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker and Daniel Kaluuya as Ramonda, Zuri and W'Kabi respectively further shows the level of talent that is attracted to the Superhero genre.

The music in Black Panther is brilliant, Ludwig Göransson provides the score, whilst Kendrick Lamar arranged music for the soundtrack, giving a musical soul to proceedings which compliments the story, making it unashamedly and unapologetically black; from the tribal setting to the technologically advanced area of Wakanda.

Black Panther further cultivates the universe that Marvel have built over the last decade, giving us an important and game changing film that shows that a film with a predominantly black cast can be a success. I must mention Ryan Coogler who Directed the film and wrote it with Marvel Writers Program graduate Joe Robert Cole, the film is incredible from start to finish with a distinct voice that stands alone whilst also fitting into the larger puzzle that is the MCU. With this being his third film, it shows what a talent he has and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Black Panther will return in Avengers: Infinity War and with such a strong showing here in his solo outing and his debut in Captain America: Civil War, I can’t wait to see what else is in store for the Hero King of Wakanda.