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

Wakanda Forever!

by Ewan Paterson
Black Panther Michael B Jordan Chadwick Boseman
Marvel Studios

Black Panther is one of the best comic book films of all time, and while it has its flaws (which are few and far between), it's also the most important.

In production (technically) since 1992, Marvel's Black Panther has - much like the nation of Wakanda itself - long eluded the spotlight. Now that it's released however, there's little chance things will ever be the same. Ryan Coogler's superhero origin story is a testament to good storytelling, and while other Marvel films have made commentary in the past, Black Panther is a statement in and of itself, releasing within the context of a cinematic universe overwhelmingly dominated by straight, white Chrises, and in a milieu that has seen calls for better representation in popular culture increase by the day.

Black Panther is, then, important for a variety of different reasons. It has chronological significance for the MCU itself of course, but there's also a deeper significance that extends beyond the superhero genre itself, to the history of representation in its entirety on the big screen and how films approach history in their storytelling.

This is a key event in the genre as we know it, and while the film does have its flaws, it's by far one of the strongest Marvel features yet, and one True Believers cannot afford to miss.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.