The Marvel Cinematic Universe has plenty of franchises, but a few of them stand out as fan favorites. Black Panther is definitely in that category, with the first movie also becoming the shared universe’s biggest success at the Oscars. A sequel arrived in 2022 titled Wakanda Forever, which was also a wild success. But filmmaker Ryan Coogler recently explained why he was “nervous” tackling Black Panther.
Ryan Coogler brought Wakanda to life with his pair of Marvel movies, with a unique visual language and all-star cast of talent. Coogler described reworking Black Panther 2 as the most difficult task of his professional life, given the pressure and emotions tied with Chadwick Boseman’s death. But there were also lots of nerves for the first movie, as the filmmaker recently told AV Club:
I was nervous about Panther because it’s a fictional place. We had to build everything from the ground up. So when we were in a real place—say in South Korea or South Africa—I used that to create a sense of a real place for the movie. It was important for me to ground it with the real music of actual places. So for the voice of the film, we ended up working with Top Dawg and Kendrick [Lamar]. Kendrick was representing themes we were looking for, themes that existed between African and American hip-hop culture at that time. The movie was an exploration of that, and he was in that zone as an artist.
Some points were made. Despite Wakanda being a fictional country, Coogler took special care in making the setting as realistic as possible. That includes designs like the set, as well as the Black Panther franchise’s signature musical language. But as we all know, that specificity really paid off in the end.
The Black Panther franchise is a richly sewn tapestry, and in just two movies Ryan Coogler and company have been able to create Wakanda in live-action to great success. This is likely partly why movies like Wakanda Forever have been so successful in theaters, in addition to the critical response. The franchise also grapples with captivating real-life issues including grief, colonialism, and generational trauma. And all while bringing thrilling action and comedic beats into the forefront as well.
It should be fascinating to see where Coogler ends up taking the Black Panther movies next. The ending of Wakanda Forever saw Shuri becoming the new Panther, but not ruling over the country. Instead M’Baku is seemingly on the throne, although the reveal of T’Challa’s son may change that.
The Black Panther franchise is currently streaming in its entirety on Disney+. The next upcoming Marvel movie hitting theaters is The Marvels on November 10th. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
