Black Panther: 10 Reasons Why It's The Most Important Marvel Film Yet
4. It Subverts Old MCU Tropes
Marvel Studios
The MCU might have a kind of formula for its films, but if there was one, Black Panther subverts it entirely.
There's the classic Marvel-style humour - certainly - but it feels more organic here. Add to that the film boasts a fantastic villain, takes the time to develop him and breaks convention with the in-house Marvel 'style' (when it comes to references, certainly), and you have what could possibly be the most unique MCU film yet.
A lot of this comes down to how Black Panther treats its supporting cast; all of them do, in some way, feel integral to the overarching narrative of the film itself, no matter how marginal their screen time. It's an ensemble through and through, and while it is also a superhero origin movie, the true strength of the film lies as much with Boseman as it does his supporting cast, who all steal their scenes in one way or another.
It's really refreshing - not that there haven't been any Marvel ensembles in the past, but Black Panther's is by far the best.
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.
