Friday night, the first teaser trailer for BLACK PANTHER debuted during Game 4 of the 2017 NBA Finals and it was as impressive as the Cleveland Cavaliers' point explosion victory. A telltale sign the trailer really impressed beyond the standard Marvel fanbase is when a sports new site like Sports Illustrated had to do a short write-up post about the trailer debut.
When it releases in U.S. theaters on February 16, 2018, BLACK PANTHER will be Marvel Studios' 18th movie in their Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). And the studio continues to release new and fresh introductory solo superhero movies.
The first impression looks like BLACK PANTHER is taking its genre cues from the adventure and exploration categories which is a very smart play by co-writer / director Ryan Coogler and studio head Kevin Feige. The world's first black superhero needs to be explored on the big screen just as much as the world needed a leading female superhero movie like WONDER WOMAN.
Coogler and Feige spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the new teaser and here's some important things we've sourced from their chat.
Actor Andy Serkis returns as Ulysses Klaue, one of T'Challa's and the film's villains, with actor Martin Freeman also reprising his role as CIA agent Everett Ross. These two are in an interrogation room with Klaue taunting Ross about how he has no clue what the real secret of Africa's Wakanda nation truly is. Klaue tells Ross everything known about Wakanda is a false front hidding the power and technology the nation wields and Klaue is the only person who has seen it outside of its residents. This leverage Klaue has makes him laugh hysterically.
He's laughing because of Wakanda's truly impressive tech nobody outside of the nation knows about. For example, T'Challa's Royal Talon Fighter.
The sense of adventure and exploration is very high at this point of the trailer and only gets higher as you get to see the Black Panther (actor Chadwick Boseman) in the shadows fighting a heavily armed squad.
As the trailer goes on we see a lot of glimpses at Wakanda and its people as well as actor Michael B. Jordan as another villain, Erik Killmonger. He wants power in Wakanda and in order to achieve his goal he breaks Klaue out, who has an endless desire for the country's Vibranium supply, during the interrogation scene.
The remainder of the trailer is a bunch of cuts teasing the film and there looks to be some political entanglements throughout as the throne of Wakanda has been passed from T'Chaka — who was killed in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR — to his son T'Challa (Boseman). This seems to be a big story arc in the film as Killmonger, and surely a few others, want that seat on Wakanda's throne.
"Marvel Studios’ 'Black Panther' follows T’Challa who, after the death of his father, the King of Wakanda, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king. But when a powerful old enemy reappears, T’Challa’s mettle as king—and Black Panther—is tested when he is drawn into a formidable conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people and their way of life."
BLACK PANTHER releases in the U.S. on February 16, 2018.
Written by Daniel Wolf, DailySuperHero.com Founder & Publisher
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