Black Panther: 10 Reasons Why It's The Most Important Marvel Film Yet

10. How It Tackles History

Black Panther Ulyesses Klaue Erik Killmonger
Marvel Studios

The MCU is no stranger to using history to tell a story, with a wide selection of Marvel films having now utilised flashback at some point or another, but Black Panther is the first to actually address it.

The conversations the film has stem directly from the source material itself, with Wakanda symbolising what the African continent would've looked like had it not been for centuries worth of colonisation, exploitation and tyranny from European Empires, but it should still be commended for translating them so diligently regardless.

What makes BP's discussion so brilliant isn't just that it's the first comic book movie to really have it, but the way in which it does so too. Killmonger's introduction at the British Museum is executed perfectly, with the anti-villain pointing out the absurdity of a British institution claiming ownership over items pillaged by their soldiers but a few hundred years earlier.

It's incredibly refreshing to say the least, and with the film also discussing the effects of institutionalised racism in the United States, Fanonist rhetoric and modern day imperialism, Black Panther is by far the smartest comic book film of our time.

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Content Producer/Presenter
Content Producer/Presenter

Resident movie guy at WhatCulture who used to be Comics Editor. Thinks John Carpenter is the best. Likes Hellboy a lot. Can usually be found talking about Dad Movies on his Twitter at @EwanRuinsThings.