Marvel superhero Black Panther finally made his on-screen debut over the weekend in Captain America: Civil War. The character had a whole lot of screen time, and it led to a ton of character development, building towards his 2018 solo film, which couldn't come soon enough. Now that Black Panther is in the cinematic universe, what do we know about him? Recently, we talked about the comic version versus what we assumed the film version would be like. Now that the film is out, we know a whole lot more about this character. Here's what we learned about Black Panther.
Warning: Spoilers for Captain America: Civil War will be discussed below.
Chadwick Boseman played the part of T'Challa, who eventually becomes Black Panther during the film. Obviously, this theatrical version of the character won't be exactly like his comic book counterpart, so during Civil War, there were a few surprises. In addition, there's still a lot of questions about this character, which probably won't get answered until the Black Panther film in 2018. However, here's what we learned about Black Panther in Civil War.
- T'Challa was only involved because Wakandans were killed on a goodwill mission in Lagos. The people of Wakanda are a nation separated from the rest of civilization. During the battle between Crossbones and the Avengers, 11 Wakandans were killed, so Wakanda decided to step out of the shadows and be a part of the modern world.
- He isn't the king of Wakanda at the beginning of the film. He's at the signing of the Sokovia accord with his father, who is currently king. After the bombing, the king dies, and that's when T'Challa becomes king of Wakanda. His father's death sets his whole story in motion.
- T'Challa, as Black Panther, has been trained. He is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, holding his own against both Winter Soldier and Captain America.
- The Black Panther outfit has vibranium claws. It's unclear whether the whole suit is made of vibranium, one of the strongest metals in the Marvel Universe. One thing is for sure: Panther's claws are made out of vibranium, as it scratched Captain America's shield. Whatever the rest of the suit is made of, it's bulletproof, as T'Challa gets shot at a lot in the film.
- While this film introduced Black Panther and the man behind the mask, one thing it didn't really hit on was giving fans a straight answer to whether or not he has super powers. Depending on which story you read in the comics, T'Challa does have some abilities thanks to a Heart-Shaped Herb he ate in a ceremony, which gave him superhuman agility, senses, and a few other powers. In Civil War, Black Panther can apparently run as fast as a car, but we're not sure how fast that car was going. We'll probably have to wait until his solo film to learn the true extent of his power.
- Black Panther isn't on anyone's side. He's trying to seek revenge for his father's death, and he will team up with anyone that will help him achieve his goal. Unlike Spider-Man or Ant-Man, Black Panther isn't a pawn for Captain America or Iron Man to move around. We see that as Panther switches sides during the movie. Panther comes off as more of a leader than a follower.
- It's also important to point out that even when facing an immense amount of emotional stress, Panther remained logical and level-headed. While Tony Stark was facing similar problems, he let his emotions get the best of him. Panther was grief-stricken over the death of his father, but he was willing to listen to reason and new information.
- The film leaves Winter Soldier in quite the predicament. He felt like he couldn't be out in the world with the Hydra brainwashing still in his brain. Black Panther helps by putting Bucky into suspended animation until they can figure out how to get rid the damage Hydra caused. This all happens in Wakanda, so the question remains to whether this will cause an international incident in future films.
It was fantastic to see Black Panther on the big screen, and this is just the first of many adventures for the king of Wakanda. However, we're going to have to wait until 2018 to see the Black Panther solo film come to the big screen. We can also assume he'll be appearing in the two-part Avengers films, which has part one coming out in May 2018.
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