MCU Retrospective: Black Panther
Arguably the movie that had the largest cultural impact of the entire MCU, Black Panther is just an amazing movie. The absolutely stunning visuals paired with the well-written characters makes this one of the best movies of the MCU.
Honestly Shuri is probably my favorite character in the MCU. She is such a funny and kickass character and Letita Wright portrays her so well. Okoye might be a close second to her. Her and the rest of the Dora Milaje are some of the fiercest warriors of the MCU and some of the most entertaining both in and out of combat.
One thing I did notice during this rewatch that I hadn’t really noticed during previous viewings of this movie is that the pacing feels a little off to me. The main villain of the movie is Killmonger, but aside from the odd scene here and there he doesn’t make a grand appearance in the movie until a full hour into the two hour runtime. And then the whole sequence of him appearing in Wakanda, defeating T’Challa in combat, assuming the Black Panther abilities, and then attempting to enact his grand plan and (spoilers) being killed by T’Challa all occur within the last 50 or so minutes of the movie. I feel like the time spent with Klaue could have been cut a little shorter and Killmonger given just a little more of the spotlight.
The visuals in this movie are one of its key selling points. Between the intense action scenes and the highly advanced technology, this movie is stunning. There are some moments here and there that could have used a little more attention, sure, but this movie is definitely a close runner-up to Doctor Strange for the best visuals in the MCU.
One last note, Killmonger overall is a meh villain. One thing I will give him credit for though is that he is one of the few villains in the MCU that actually has a good, albeit misguided, point. With Wakanda stepping out of the shadows and opening their technology up to the world, it’ll be interesting to see how this shapes the MCU moving forward.
This is still definitely one of the best movies in the MCU. There’s no denying that Black Panther will be fondly remembered for years to come and there’s no doubt that Black Panther 2 will be just as monumental as the first.