MCU Commentary Rewatch: Black Panther
(Cover art by Matt Ferguson, for the Blu Ray release. https://www.cakesandcomics.com/)
It can be argued that BLACK PANTHER is the most important genre film of the 21st century.
I take a different view. It’s the most important genre film EVER. This film wasn’t written for me, a whitish man of middling years. It was written for the luminous child inside me, and inside of you, who remembers playing make-believe and jumping off tables and tree branches with a sheet tied around your neck.
But more importantly, it was written by a black man, about black people, and it made A BILLION DOLLARS.
It was nominated for seven (7!) Academy awards, including Best Picture, though somehow was >not< nominated for Best Director, Best Original (or Adapted) Screenplay, or Best Actor by the MPAA.
But it was also nominated for 219 other awards, and won 87 of those, including numerous accolades for the script, performances, and overall presentation.
I’m not here to make this about race. Because it’s >already< about race.
I’m here to hear what Ryan Coogler has to say about that, and I do not think I’ll be disappointed.
TL:DR;
Running Ranking: #1 of 23
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther_(film)
Commentary Takeaway:
I need more time to process this. I honestly had to stop the movie several times just to let what Ryan Coogler was telling me settle in.
It’s all about the work here. He had something to say about every scene in the movie, and in-between scenes he had something to say about Africa and African culture.
I need more time, because I may need to watch it again tomorrow, just to understand how much I don’t understand.
I need to get a copy of the shooting script and read it cover to cover.
I need for Chadwick Boseman not to be dead, so he and T’Challa can teach me what I need to know about heroism.
I need more.
“Who are you,” the script asks multiple times. The answer is always the same.
You are what you do. Your sins will catch up with you, and your virtues will be rewarded.
So maybe I do understand after all.
Overall Commentary Rankings:
1. BLACK PANTHER
2. DOCTOR STRANGE
3. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
4. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
5. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 2
6. THOR: THE DARK WORLD
7. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 1
8. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER
9. ANT-MAN
10. THOR: RAGNAROK
12. AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
13. IRON MAN 2
14. INCREDIBLE HULK
15. IRON MAN 3
16. MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS
17. IRON MAN
18.
19.
20.
21. THOR
22. SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING
23. SPIDER-MAN FAR FROM HOME
It’s a day of upsets all around, and that’s okay. I’m not surprised that BLACK PANTHER seized the #1 slot. I am surprised that it made AGE OF ULTRON’s commentary even worse, and that it may drop even further in the rankings.
And I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if ANT-MAN moves up again. But with just three movies to go, that displacement may occur because of ANT-MAN AND THE WASP instead. P.S. I checked. FAR FROM HOME has no commentary track, So I’m pre-emptively slotting it in at 23 until I can review the disc properly.