Black Panther (film)

**Black Panther** is a 2007 superhero film set in the Marvel Media Franchise, the fourth film in the universe. The film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Olivia Munn, Kevin Hart, Matt Damon, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Lupita Nyong'o, Kenneth Branagh, Dulé Hill, and Michael Clarke Duncan and was released worldwide on March 30, 2007. The film ran 124 minutes and grossed $457.4 million on a $130 million budget.

## Plot

In 1981, 24-year-old T'Chaka, King of African country Wakanda, works as the vigilante Black Panther to stop crime and other "villains" in his country. However, his wife Ramonda convinces him to quit the superheroism for a while to raise their newborn son, T'Challa. In 2007, T'Chaka finally hands the title of King to T'Challa, now an adult. T'Chaka convinces him to find a suitable wife to help him rule and produce an heir. At the coronation, South African singer Monica Lynne sings a melody, attracting the attention of T'Challa. T'Challa and Monica have a one-night stand before she returns to South Africa. Arms dealer Erik Killmonger invades Wakanda and attacks the palace, injuring T'Challa's sister Shuri and killing T'Chaka. The kingdom mourns their former king's loss and T'Challa decides to end Killmonger's underground reign.

T'Challa enlists his adviser and fighter W'Kabi along with healed Shuri and the leader of the all-female warrior unit, Okoye, to help him. The four storm Killmonger's base, only to find it empty. They follow a trail to South Africa, where Killmonger has enlisted the help of South African arms dealer Ulysses Klaw to create Vibranium weapons, a substance only found in Wakanda. T'Challa discovers they have kidnapped Monica and his team manages to save her, only to find her defeat several enemies in an instant. Monica reveals she is an agent of the CIA who has been working for months to stop Klaw. Monica gets her partner, Everett K. Ross, to help them out. The team of now six returns to Wakanda to decide on their new plan.

T'Challa and Monica realize they still have feelings for one another and enter a romantic relationship, much to the annoyance of Ross, who has been trying to attract Monica's feelings for months. Shuri realizes her attraction to Okoye, which she keeps from T'Challa and Okoye, in fear they will shun her. Klaw and Killmonger decide to create an explosive gun out of their current stash of vibranium, and test it out, discovering it can obliterate any living thing in a matter of distance. Wakanda is invaded again, but this time T'Challa and his team protect the gates. They fight off the soldiers, though Killmonger and Klaw sneak in. W'Kabi sees this and chases after them. T'Challa and Monica decide to help W'Kabi out, leaving Shuri, Okoye, and Ross on their own to stop the continuing armies. The armies retreat after the other members of the Dora Milaje and the CIA appear. Shuri admits her feelings to Okoye, who reveals she returns her feelings, and they kiss.

T'Challa, Monica, and W'Kabi stop Killmonger and Klaw before they can collect the rest of the vibranium, but Klaw uses the gun on W'Kabi, and he falls dead. T'Challa mourns his loss but is inspired to stop them. The CIA arrests Killmonger, but in the ensuing chaos, Klaw escaped. T'Challa agrees to hunt Klaw down and stop him for good, while Monica reveals she is going to stay in Wakanda with T'Challa. Shuri and Okoye make their relationship public, with T'Challa and the rest of the kingdom embracing them. In a mid-credits scene, set in 2004, T'Challa is revealed to have donned the Black Panther costume before and worked with a human-mutant calling herself "Storm". In a post-credits scene, Klaw reveals to his organization that Vibranium was onced used in the 40s to create an invulnerable shield, made with not only Vibranium both another substance, too, called Adamantium.

## Cast

* Chiwetel Ejiofor as T'Challa/Black Panther
* Olivia Munn as Monica Lynne
* Kevin Hart as W'Kabi
* Matt Damon as Everett K. Ross
* Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Shuri
* Lupita Nyong'o as Okoye
* Kenneth Branagh as Ulysses Klaw
* Dulé Hill as Erik Killmonger
* Michael Clarke Duncan as T'Chaka
	+ Donald Glover as young T'Chaka

## Production

The film entered active development in 2002, when Marvel announced their intent to develop films centered around Iron Man, Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Hulk. By December 2004, John Singleton was attached to direct, with Mark Bailey co-writing a script alongside Singleton. In July 2005, Chiwetel Ejiofor was cast in the role of T'Challa/Black Panther. Additional roles that were currently casting were announced as Monica Lynne, W'Kabi, Everett K. Ross, Erik Killmonger, T'Chaka, Shuri, Okoye, and Ulysses Klaw, which would be the main characters alongside T'Challa. In August, Olivia Munn sparked controversy after she was as Monica Lynne, who was traditionally portrayed as African-American in the comics. Matt Damon and Gugu Mbatha-Raw were also cast that month as Everett K. Ross and Shuri, respectively. Kevin Hart was cast as W'Kabi in September. Lupita Nyong'o, Kenneth Branagh, and Dulé Hill  were cast as Okoye, Ulysses Klaw, and Erik Killmonger, respectively, in November, while Michael Clarke Duncan was cast as T'Chaka in December.

## Reception

### **Box office**

The film grossed $220 million in North America and $237.4 million in other territories for a total gross of $457.4 million, against a budget of $130 million.

### **Critical reception**

*Black Panther* received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 35%, based on 125 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A talented cast goes to waste in the improbable *Black Panther*, which is eerily similar to earlier entries in the franchise." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 48 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.

### **Accolades**

The film was nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Costume Design, and Best Visual Effects. It won Best Original Score, Best Costume Design, and Best Visual Effects.