Black Panther: Origins

**Black Panther: Origins** is a 2010 superhero film set in the Marvel Media Franchise, the fourteenth film in the universe. It is also a prequel to *Black Panther*. The film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jada Pinkett Smith, Dulé Hill, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Kevin Hart, Lupita Nyong'o, Angela Bassett, and Michael Clarke Duncan and was released worldwide on September 3, 2010. The film ran 125 minutes and grossed $623.9 million on a $200 million budget.

## Plot

​Set in 2004, 23-year-old T'Challa is the son of King T'Chaka and Queen Romonda of the African nation of Wakanda. T'Chaka was once the agile Black Panther, donning an invulnerable suit that gave him the ability to climb, hide, and fight, along with super-strength after eating the Heart-Shaped Herb of Wakanda. However, once T'Challa was born, T'Chaka retired and allowed the Dora Milaje, an all-female warrior unit, to protect the country. Now, T'Challa has discovered what his father used to be, and now is inspired to become a hero like his father. T'Challa finds the herb and dons the suit to become a fighter, much to the chagrin of his parents. T'Challa's 16-year-old sister, Shuri, aspires to join the Dora Milaje, though T'Chaka forbids her of ever endangering herself.

T'Challa decides to find a team of people to help him on his journey to fight. He meets Ororo Munroe, a mutant with the power to control the weather. She is a myth among her village, known as Storm. Ororo agrees to join and soon starts a relationship with T'Challa. T'Challa also recruits mercenary Erik Killmonger, tech expert W'Kabi, and leader of the Dora Milaje, Okoye, along with her second-in-command, Ayo. The team of six use their special abilities to stop the invader M'Baku, also known as the Man-Ape due to his appearance. However, as they go around stopping crime in the country, Killmonger slowly begins to resort to violence and nearly kills their enemies, until T'Challa talks him out of it. Killmonger and Ayo begin a relationship, even though it was forbidden to be in a relationship while in the Dora Milaje.

T'Challa realizes Killmonger plans to steal the throne of Wakanda from T'Chaka, and T'Challa manages to get Ororo, W'Kabi, and Okoye on his side, though Ayo leaves Wakanda with Killmonger after he was banished. Okoye decides to return to the Dora Milaje full-time to deal with the loss of Ayo, their first loss in fifty years. Shuri attempts to be recruited into the Dora Milaje, though Okoye follows orders from T'Chaka to leave her out. Okoye tries to get her mother to convince T'Chaka to let her in, though he continues to refuse. W'Kabi becomes T'Chaka's greatest adviser, while Ororo begins a public relationship with T'Challa. Soon, however, Killmonger invades Wakanda, with a great army and Ayo at his side.

T'Challa, Storm, Okoye, and W'Kabi reunite to defend their country, along with Shuri and all of the Dora Milaje. T'Chaka discovers Shuri is on the battlefield and risks his life to keep her from fighting. However, Shuri is forced to keep her father unconscious so she can fight. T'Challa and Killmonger fight and after defeating T'Challa, Killmonger storms the unprotected castle and kills Romonda. Okoye finds Killmonger and fights him until he is knocked out of the window. However, he escapes and is unseen. Ayo pleads with Killmonger to return, though he leaves her to be arrested, which she is. The fight is ended and Romonda is buried. T'Chaka mourns her loss and blames Shuri, due to her not letting him protect the castle. However, T'Challa stands up for his sister, though he continues to not let her fight. Ayo believes Killmonger will come for her, though he never does. Storm leaves Wakanda in search for something of purpose in her life, though she promises to never forget T'Challa.

In a mid-credits scene, Killmonger meets arms dealer Ulysses Klaw.

## Cast

* Chiwetel Ejiofor as T'Challa/Black Panther
* Jada Pinkett Smith as Ororo Munroe/Storm
* Dulé Hill as Erik Killmonger
* Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Shuri
* Kevin Hart as W'Kabi
* Danai Gurira as Ayo
* Lupita Nyong'o as Okoye
* Angela Bassett as Romonda
* Michael Clarke Duncan as T'Chaka

## Production

A *Black Panther* sequel was put into development alongside an untitled Hulk sequel in late 2007. The former was scheduled to be released to be released on July 16, 2010. Ejiofor signed a contract that included two *Black Panther* sequels and three *Avengers* films. Hill, Mbatha-Raw, Hart, and Nyong'o signed contracts to appear in the film, with Mbatha-Raw and Nyong'o also signing onto to appear in another film in the universe. Duncan agreed to reprise his role as T'Chaka from the first film in the sequel, as of August 2008 being titled *Black Panther: Origins*. Smith, having appeared as Storm in *X-Men*, had signed a six film contract with Marvel, and agreed to appear in the film under her contract. Olivia Munn, having starred in the first film, revealed that she would not be appearing in the film, and though she wanted to the script required her to stay out. In December, director Mark Bailey, returning from *Black Panther*, revealed that the film would take place three years before the events of the first film and would show the origins of Black Panther. Filming began on October 13, 2009 and finished on February 3, 2010. The film was post-poned to September 3, 2010.

## Reception

### **Box office**

*Black Panther: Origins* earned $312.4 million in the United States and Canada, as well as $311.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $623.9 million.

### **Critical reception**

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 73% approval rating with an average rating of 6.5/10 based on 279 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "*Black Panther: Origins* is a major improvement on the original, even if it can't quite catch the charm as other Marvel films." Metacritic gave the film 57/100 based on a normalized rating of 40 reviews.