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So you might have heard of an obscure little indie film called Black Panther that opened this past week, and by indie I mean Marvel Studios/Disney and by obscure I mean a wide release that shattered all expectations to become a opening weekend phenomenon that joins the likes of the Star Wars and Jurassic Park franchises, to say nothing of the superhero genre of which only the mighty Avengers did better.
There are many thinkpieces on why this is, such as it benefiting from the Marvel Studios branding, but although that branding has been shown potent enough to get movies like Ant-Man and Doctor Strange into profitable territory, Black Panther’s opening weekend combined with positive reviews and good word-of-mouth seems to me like it’s no longer out of the question that it could break a billion dollars worldwide by the time its run ends.
It’s no question a cultural phenomenon. But having seen it I will declare it’s also a well put together film with a strong script and strong performances nearly across the board, and that includes one key aspect: the villain.
Or antagonist, if you prefer. I’ve written before about how some of the most compelling villains are the ones who from their perspective are the heroes of the story. Without delving far into spoiler territory, I think it’s safe for me to state that Killmonger–the main antagonist of Black Panther–fits this bill. That’s right, Ryan Coogler took a Marvel Comics character with the name Killmonger and made him not only not a laughingstock but arguably one of the best foils to ever grace the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I mean, much love to James Gunn but he basically just turned Taserface into a joke. I can’t really blame Gunn for that I suppose, but Coogler decided to step up to the challenge instead.
Mind you, conventional wisdom holds that the quality of the antagonists is one of the greatest ongoing weaknesses of the MCU franchise so one might accuse me of damning with faint praise, but I’m really not. Killmonger is so convinced of the rightness of his cause he just might carry you along with him at times, and perhaps most striking of all, his actions cause the hero himself to re-evaluate how he looks at the world. That’s pretty amazing and something I can’t really say I achieved with Muriel even though I might have gotten the “righteous cause” bit down.
So again, can’t really say any more without stepping into spoiler territory, but if you go see Black Panther (or are planning to see it again) it’s worth keeping an eye on Killmonger and thinking about what makes him tick, because you could certainly do a lot worse as a template for your own baddies.