We Love to See It: 5 New Black Marvel Moments You Don’t Want to Miss
Tags: Marvel, Film, Movies, Disney, Streaming

We Love to See It: 5 New Black Marvel Moments You Don’t Want to Miss

Black Panther II poster, Marvel Studios

For Disney’s Investor Day 2020, the media juggernaut threw out its biggest trump card in the never ending battle for best streaming platform, as Marvel Studios revealed enough details about upcoming projects to decidedly tip the scales in Disney+’s favor. The comic-based subsidiary has built an empire of movies and shows have consistently taken the film industry by storm and their latest rollout is no different, with one notable development: Marvel’s newest slate is very black, and we are here for it. Quietest kept, you should be too. Here are the top 5 things that have us praying theaters are open by 2021.

1. Marvel announces its first film to be directed by a black woman.

Despite being a box office success, Captain Marvel drew harsh reviews from movie critics, garnering the reputation of being more of a supplemental film in preparation for Avengers: Endgame, than a stand-alone epic for Marvel’s namesake hero. Marvel may have heard the criticism and leveled up, giving fans a major reason to watch the sequel, when they announced via twitter that Nia Da Costa will be the first black woman to direct a Marvel film. The Candyman director and co-writer will take on Captain Marvel 2 slated to release in 2022, so hopefully the celebrated female-led series will have another added layer of Black girl magic. Disney + also announced that ____ actress Teyonah Parris will star as a grown-up superhero Monica Rambeau, Captain Marvel’s niece, in spinoff series Ms. Marvel, scheduled to arrive on the streaming platform in 2021.

2. LoveCraft Country actors are getting shown major love.

The HBOMax horror drama series captivated a multicultural audience this summer, telling the story of Atticus Freeman journeying across the Jim Crow south in search of his missing father with his friend Letitia Lewis and Uncle George. Jonathan Majors, who plays Atticus Freeman, will take on the role of Kang the Conquerer, a time-traveling villain, in Antman and the Wasp: Quantamania, while costar Wunmi Mosaku, who plays Rubi Baptiste, (Letitia’s older sister) will reportedly be a series regular alongside Tom Hiddleston in Loki, the upcoming Marvel original based on the adventures of Thor’s baby brother. The series will be headed to Disney+ in May 2021.

3. Black Avengers are making their way to the main stage.

Always an assistant, never an Avenger, characters like James Rhoades a.k.a. War Machine (Don Cheadle), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Sam Wilson a.k.a Falcon (Anthony Mackie) have always added levity and humor to the Avengers movies, helping to save the universe on multiple occasions but rarely get the spotlight. Marvel swivels the lamp with a few new original series featuring the characters, centering War Machine in Armor Wars, as James Rhoades jumps into action when keep Tony Stark’s tech falls into the wrong hands. Samuel L. Jackson takes center stage in Secret Invasion as Nick Fury, the mysterious and smart-mouthed director of S.H.I.E.L.D. while Captain America’s oldest and newest friend, Sam Wilson and James “Bucky” Buchanan link up in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. It’s almost enough to make us forgive them for pulling an “Aunt Viv switch” with recasting Captain Rhoades character in Iron Man 2 (no shade, Terrence Howard.)

4. A new black super-shero: the arrival of the Ironheart series

After the final scenes of Endgame, it seemed as if the likely choice to carry on Iron Man’s legacy in the modern film franchise would be the young Spider-man, but Marvel chose to stick to the script and expand the Iron Man family, returning to the comics in the new series Ironheart, casting Dominique Thorne (If Beale Street Could Talk) as young inventor Riri Williams creates “the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man.” The best part? The young genius in a metal suit is a Black girl. Shoutout to Marvel for staying true to the comics and casting a young black actress for the role. The new original series will stream on Disney+.

5. We won’t have to go through the emotional trauma of adjusting to a new Black Panther.

After the tragic death of legendary Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman earlier this year, the speculation began almost immediately as to how the sequel would look; whether the role would be recast or rewritten. The first Black Panther film was a major milestone for Black people in cinema; the first blockbuster-budget movie to have a predominantly Black cast and be directed by Marvel’s first African-American director, the movie immediately captivated the hearts of Black comic fans worldwide, young and old alike. Boseman himself brought a special magic to the role that captivated us all from the first “Wakanda Forever” to well beyond the ending credits. With such large shoes to fill for such a beloved character, Marvel has opted not to recast Boseman’s character, and instead center the film around other members of the original cast, a tasteful tribute to the late actor, and our forever Black Panther.