Wakanda Forever: The Impact of Black Panther

One night in the fall of 2014 I checked my social media and saw that it had been announced that Chadwick Boseman had been casts to play Marvel Comic's superhero, Black Panther, also known as T'Challa. Considering that I was already a big fan of Chadwick Boseman because of his previous roles in films like 42 (2013) and Get On Up (2014), I was not surprised at this choice of casting, but I was surprised at the impact that Black Panther would have on the world, because it was one that I would have never predicted.

In 2016's Captain America: Civil War, Marvel Studios gave fans their first taste of the Black Panther, the king of the fictional country of Wakanda, a covert highly advanced nation that operates under the guise of a third world country on the continent of Africa. We meet our hero as he is caught in the middle of a superhero civil war taking place between Avengers front men, Captain America and Iron Man after his father, T'Chaka, the preceding king of Wakanda was killed in the ensuing war. After helping resolve the conflict, T'Challa becomes an ally of the Avengers and it is there that his journey begins. After the massive success of Civil War it was announced that a Black Panther solo film was in the works and given the positive impression the character made on audiences in Civil War, fans could not have been happier.

I will never forget the moment I first saw the anticipation for Black Panther’s release build. It started in the form of memes from many people in the Black community joking about how they were going to show up to the theaters to see the film in African attire from different movies about Africa like Coming To America. Talk and speculation for the upcoming release of Black Panther began to sweep nerd/fandom media and eventually mainstream film media.

Right before I saw the first teaser trailer for Black Panther I watched an interview with Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee, where he said that Black Panther would be the most highly anticipated Marvel film ever. Though I am a huge Marvel fanatic, I actually doubted that this would be the case, boy would I be wrong. When me and my friends saw Thor: Ragnorak in theaters on its opening night, the first trailer for Black Panther was shown right before the movie started. The entire audience erupted in excitement in a way I had never seen before. I knew from the reaction to this first trailer that the road to Black Panther was going to be an exciting and defining journey, one that would go beyond the film itself. Later that same weekend I binge watched a bunch of social media personalities and youtuber's reactions to Black Panther's debut trailer and I have to say it was very enjoyable. I got a real kick out of seeing so many like-minded groups and individuals sharing in my excitement for this movie. The craze for the arrival of the Black Panther was to be expected, given its Marvel Cinematic Universe lineage, but the social and cultural impact that Black Panther was getting ready to make is one that still leaves me in awe to this day.

With the close of 2017 and the opening of 2018, wallpapers and eventually merchandise for Black Panther quickly started to pop up across the entire planet. Everywhere I went I was seeing Black Panther themed clothing, artwork, cups, lunchboxes, toys, etc. If a fan of the film were to give an explanation as to why Black Panther became such a growing sphere of influence they would say it was because of its beautiful exploration of Black culture and the thought provoking acknowledgement of Black issues in a way that a comic/fantasy film had never previously visited.

The film's plot chronicles the former prince T'Challa now being crowned king in the aftermath of his father's death in Captain America: Civil War. As he begins to take his rightful place on the thrown of Wakanda he is suddenly approached by his long lost cousin, Erik "Killmonger" Stevens aka N'Jadaka, who is looking to take the thrown from him out of revenge for T'Challa's father killing Killmonger's father, N'Jobu, who had become radicalized by the sight of the oppressive conditions that African Americans were going through in America. Furthermore, Killmonger wants to use the advanced resources of Wakanda to empower oppressed Black people across the planet with the intent that they use Wakanda's resources to take power over the rest of the world.

The plot and themes of the film really struck a cord with audiences around the planet. The fact that the film addressed such issues as Black oppression, the history of its ripple effects, and the international disconnect between continental African and African American, really added an edge of social commentary in a way that the comic/fantasy world had never previously explored. I will never forget the opening night of Black Panther. To this day it was the most packed I had ever seen a movie theater for an opening night my entire life. They even had a red carpet rolled out at the theater entrance with a Black Panther cosplayer taking photos with everyone in the theater. I also saw a lot of people dressed in African clothing and symbolism as they watched the movie. When fans left the theater after seeing Black Panther we felt like we had not only just seen another Marvel cinematic masterpiece, but that we also had been given a healthy dose of consciousness.

Black Panther quickly became a gem with Black audiences across the world because this was the first time we had been given a superhero film on a major level such as Marvel where our culture that we identified with so much was being shown in such a beautiful light. Though there had been plenty of Black superheroes showcased before, this was the first time when our culture as a whole had been showcased in such a prominent manner and was the center of the story.

Following the release and popularity of the film the famous Wakanda Forever symbol, in which a person crosses their arms in the form of an X in front of their chest, quickly became a cultural phenomenon. Everywhere you went you would see so many people from so many backgrounds doing the Wakanda Forever symbol. It did not matter whether they were a nerd or not, male or female, old or young, Black or White. For me, this was a prime example of the monumental impact that Black Panther had on society. Though the film was centered around Black culture, people from every type of culture identified with the love of this film.

I was working at the restaurant Bojangles at the time the film came out and one day shortly after the film's release we had a Spanish speaking family who did not know English come in and order their food with the help of one of our Spanish speaking coworkers. When they took their seats I noticed the son was wearing a Black Panther hoody. I also had a Black Panther hoody at the time and when I clocked out as the family sat down to eat the son looked at me and saw my hoody and gave me a Wakanda Forever Symbol with his arms. I gave him one back and what sat with me in that moment was though we do not speak the same native language, we both loved Black Panther and that was our common love language. This was only one small example of how Black Panther had taken over the world.

The success of Black Panther would lead to many accolades for its filmmakers. In 2019 the film swept award season. It was nominated for a number of Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globes and even Academy Awards. Eventually the film would take home a record of four Oscars as well as the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a major motion picture. Black Panther had no doubt become a staple on cinema.

In addition to its accolades the identity of Black Panther was starting to take a physical effect every where. The hairstyle of the charismatic villain Killmonger, portrayed by actor Michael B. Jordan had become a fashion statement with many young Black males donning the hairstyle. Several members of my own family and friends group also wore the hairstyle. Killmonger’s thorned necklace also became quite the fashion statement, as it started to pop up in a lot of clothing stores across the country.

What would a great film be without great music? Black Panther wouldn't know because it had a great motion picture soundtrack. Both the score and album soundtracks for Black Panther became widely popular and successful. The album music which was mostly composed by Grammy Award winning Hip Hop heavyweight Kendrick Lamar captivated fans and the music world with songs from the album like "Kings Dead", "Pray For Me" and "All the Stars" by Kendrick Lamar and SZA, which was nominated at the Oscars for Best Original Song at the 91st annual Academy Awards in 2019. The score album which was composed by Ludwig Göransson would go on to win the Oscar for Best Original Score at the 91st annual Academy Awards.

Two months after the release of Black Panther, King T'Challa and the rest of the Wakandan Empire would make their reappearance in the mega ensemble Avengers: Infinity War, which was released one week earlier than it's initial release date. Though Marvel Studios attributed their early release of the film to a request made by Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr., many believe it was the massive success of Black Panther that influenced the studio to release the film a week early to further cash in on Black Panther's success. Black Panther and his fellow Wakandans also played a big role in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, which would go on to become the highest grossing film of all time.

In the beginning of 2019 I started doing something I had never even dreamed of before, I started going to Comic Con with some of my closest friends. I knew right after I purchased my tickets that not only was I going to go, but I was also going to cosplay one of my favorite characters from a movie, book, or comic book. I already had it made up in my mind that I was going to dress up as Black Panther. While I went as Black Panther one of my friends went as Killmonger and my other friend went as Thor. This was perfectly fitting being that we are all Marvel buffs.

Me and my friends were not the only cosplayers who were all about Black Panther that day, of course there were many others who cosplayed Black Panther as well, and just like us, many others from every background you could think of was happy to see them. I would go to Comic Con three more times that year as Black Panther and among others who cosplayed Black Panther and his other acquaintances from Wakanda we all received the same warm greeting. A funny thing that happened the last time I went to Comic Con in 2019 was I ran into an entire family who cosplayed Black Panther and Wakanda and when my adoptive mother from work saw me post a picture with them on my social media she realized she knew the family and was friends with them and had also seen them post the same picture I had with them on their social media.

One moment that also really stuck with me was during the fourth and final time I went to Comic Con in 2019 a young woman stopped me and told me that her daughter who was probably no more than five or six years old really loved Black Panther and wanted to take a picture with me. The reason why this moment stuck with me was because that child was a young White girl and yet she had the same love for Black Panther as anyone else who was Black or any other ethnicity like the young Hispanic boy I saw at my job wearing the Black Panther hoody. This moment along with the cosplayers and attendees who enjoyed all the cosplayers who came dressed as Black Panther and Wakanda was a further testament to how impactful Black Panther had become.

By the end of the year 2020 a lot of changes happened in the world, socially, politically, economically, and of course Covid-ly, nevertheless the impact of Black Panther was still standing tall. As a matter of fact, it stood so tall that when it's leading actor passed away the world was brought to it's knees. On August 28, 2020, Chadwick Aaron Boseman passed away at the age of 43 from Colon Cancer. I will never forget where I was when I heard the news and I will never forget how it made me feel. My sister and one of my best friends sent me a text at the exact same time telling me that he had passed away that Friday night. My heart stopped and was overwhelmed with a painful sense of disbelief. By the next day the entire world of film and fandom was drowning in grief from the news that the mighty Black Panther himself had died. The tweet announcing Boseman's death is the most liked tweet in Twitter's history.

When Chadwick Boseman died the world not only grieved, but took a lot of time to remember his impact on cinema. Amidst having played so many heroic historical figures like Jackie Robinson, James Brown and Thurgood Marshall, it was his role as the Black Panther that made everyone grieve the hardest. When the details behind Boseman's cancer history was made public it created shockwaves because most were unaware that he had cancer. It was an even bigger shock to know that he was already filming his work as the Black Panther as his cancer was worsening. This revelation was a testament to how strong Boseman was, but perhaps the most outstanding realization was that Boseman was doing a lot of charity work for children who were cancer patients, all the while never letting the nature of his own cancer be known. This showed that Chadwick Boseman was not only a hero on screen, but a hero in real life.

Everyone spoke a lot about the impact Chadwick Boseman made as Black Panther after he passed away, but children across the planet expressed that impact in a way that no one else could. In the weeks following Boseman's death the internet was being lit up with countless images of little children constructing their own toy-styled funerals for Chadwick Boseman using their Avengers action figures. Mark Ruffalo who portrays the Incredible Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe tweeted about the heartwarming gestures. ABC's television network would eventually air a commercial free version of Black Panther as a tribute to Boseman, a broadcast that was further enlightenment of the impact made by Black Panther and all who embodied it's creation.

The year is now 2022 and after going through a challenging production journey, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now getting ready to hit theaters. Many are anxious to see how the film will turn out in light of the absence of Boseman, but from the emotional rollercoaster and positive reception of it's first trailer it appears that the cast and crew are on top of things as they should be. It is also very fitting that the name of the sequel is Wakanda Forever. If someone were to ask me what this means I would tell them that it's a cultural moment in history. A moment when a group of voices were heard like never before. Wakanda Forever is the impact of Black Panther, from the fans that watched the story, to the cast and crew who told the story. The impact of Black Panther is still being made at this very moment and for all of us who were alive to see it, we will look back at this moment in history and we will never forget the joy that it brought to us.