Meditations on ‘Black Panther’ and the Future of Black Superhero Movies
Why did it succeed where many other black superhero movies have failed?
“I wish I was white,” I said.
I was five, maybe six. As I watched Barney & Friends, I finally pinpointed what the children on screen had in common.
“Eric…,” my mom replied. I don’t remember her face right then. My eyes were still on the screen. But I knew she’d never said my name like that before.
When the first Black Panther teaser trailer hit the internet, I understood it was popular, but not necessarily the start of a phenomenon. The teaser garnered an incredible 89 million views in 24 hours, but 19 million of those views had come in its debut during the NBA finals — and at the time, the teaser for Thor: Ragnorok still held the record for the most views (136 million) in a single day. The reaction to the trailer was certainly promising, but if Thor — a character whose films weren’t exactly the heaviest box office hitters in Marvel’s arsenal — was still in the lead, then there was some room for considering the limits of Panther’s reach.
But slowly, as the film’s February premiere approached, it became obvious that Black Panther had struck a different nerve. Black Facebook groups coordinated attendance at…
