A Black Panther Movie Isn't That Hard

So, with Marvel's Movie Machine reaching optimum levels as far as production quality and with Guardians of the Galaxy, a previously unknown franchise to fans, getting rave reviews all across the board, the big question being asked is "Who's next?" And it makes sense. After all, it seemed like Marvel was betting it all on introducing a set number of heroes and building the universe specifically around them (though, in fairness, it's arguable that Iron Man was in the Guardians' position until six years ago). Now, that they've proven that they can make quality product while still taking a degree of risk on characters, it's only reasonable that fanboys would be even more eager their respective favorites to get a turn at bat.

With all that said....Black Panther.

This is that one movie Kevin Feige swears to the Old Gods and the New is in development almost annually at this point. And a lot people got their mouths watering after a proposed release schedule for the next five years of Marvel movies was spread across the internet, but that was proven to be fan-made shenanigans. Allegedly, there is a script and an active casting call in the works, but at this point, fans will probably only believe it when they see it. With that in mind, there are a handful of things that a good Black Panther movie needs to have.

1). Strong Black Women: Wakanda is supposed to be a technologically advanced society apart from the rest of Africa and, ultimately, the world. It should also be culturally advanced. Most incarnations of Black Panther depict the fictional country as thumbing its nose at the worst parts of Western culture on every level. A big one the movie should highlight is its treatment of women. Now, granted....with Fox not letting go of the X-Men rights anytime soon (even though Marvel could totally shoehorn her in on the technicality that Storm was once an Avenger) the chances of us seeing a budding romance between T'Challa and Storm are about as likely as Ron Paul ever being President. But there's still no shortage of tough women at Panther's side. His sister, Shuri almost definitely has to play a big role. I would run include a few fantastic scenes of her acting impulsively, leaping headfirst out of jet (like Captain America, making it another snub at the West), leading an attack against someone like the Rhino. It would be somewhat reminiscent of the rhino scene in 300. This would also be an opportunity to outdo Sony's Paul Giamatti Rhino the way they're outdoing Fox's Quicksilver. I suppose you could go with the Dora Milaje, T'Challa's official bodyguards/wives-in-training, but they have to get rid of the "wives in training" part because that sounds way too much like "concubines."

2). African Actors: Let's face it, guys. Halle Berry as Storm (even though the writers and wigmakers also deserve equal blame) was the best possible example of selecting a high profile Black name for a character of color as opposed to actual casting. And the reactions to the NWA cast list and Zoe Saldana playing Nina Simone should be enough evidence to Hollywood that "close enough" is not a great way to go about casting characters of color. There's basically no downside to getting African actors to play characters that live in Africa. I would say this shouldn't have to be said, but the MENSA candidate that made Prometheus has proven me wrong. This is an opportunity for Marvel to show some real understanding of what representation on the big screen would mean to little black kids. Speaking of which....

3). Djimon Hounsou: Good looking, charismatic, talented actor, physically imposing enough to probably break my 6'4, 250 pound ass in half. So, here's a guy who was basically the perfect person to play the Black Panther. Ten years ago. Although he voiced the titular character in the short lived, kinda-sorta-didn't-get-off-the-ground cartoon series, time was our enemy in getting the Gladiator star in the costume. Still, I could totally see Hounsou playing T'Chaka, Panther's father who was assassinated by Ulysses Klaw, via flashbacks. It would show some respect towards the fact that there have been attempts over the years to establish BP as a marquee character.

4). Wakanda As A Strong Nation: I know this is something else that really shouldn't have to be said, but truthfully, I know Marvel, with how awesome their recent offerings have been, probably has the strong urge to have Wakanda seem awesome....but not as awesome as Captain America. But here's the thing. I know Disney isn't likely to be down for a story where America is portrayed as being slightly sinister, so I'm not suggesting a movie where Wakanda takes an "Us vs. Them" narrative (even though that's exactly how Wakanda is in the comics), but I wouldn't mind seeing Reginald Hudlin's "Captain America Visited Here Once And Was Promptly Thrown Out On His Ass Because Fuck White Saviors" flashback played out on screen. Marvel has already been praised for allowing Kelly Sue DeConnick to play around with the turning the White Savior narrative on its ear, so this is a no-brainer for them, really. In the comics, while the rest of the world was being infiltrated by shape shifting alien zealots, this is a nation that sent them packing to say the least.

5). A Strong Focus On Establishing It's Own Franchise: This is an easy one. It doesn't even need to be an origin story. The first movie, Klaw killed T'Challa's dad (5 minute flashback at the beginning) and, as the King of Wakanda years later, Panther has become even more obsessed than ever with tracking him down and bringing him to justice. But Shuri and his council notice it's putting him off his game as a ruler, causing him to turn a blind eye to his elite police, lead by the White Wolf (T'Challa's adoptive older brother), using aggressive tactics to root out Western spies and other outside threats. As it turns out, the Wolf is working with Klaw to orchestrate an uprising among the people. Allude to the coming of Klaw in a sequel through a couple of faint appearances a la Thanos in Guardians.

In truth, a Black Panther movie really shouldn't be all that hard. If we can get Ant-Man and Rocket Raccoon and Loki reincarnated into a lovable little scamp of a supervilliain, I think Marvel can make this happen. Then again, I could be wrong.

Because You Wanted Me To Talk About Guardians of the Galaxy......

I'm going to try not doing a fleshed out review like usual for Guardians of the Galaxy since EVERYONE has kicked out a review at this point. In fact, Chace Morris and Whitney Walker collaborated to do a fantastic review for Black Nerd Problems that's absolutely worth your time.

I will say that it was a shockingly enjoyable film that is probably the best representation of where Marvel's at in terms of the superhero genre of film. I mean, they're getting REALLY good at this. I hate to make this a "Versus DC" thing again because it seems like I've been doing that a lot lately (though you almost HAVE to, seeing as they're the only two in the field and we're not likely to get that Spawn reboot Todd McFarlane promises almost annually), but in terms of quality and output, they're doing laps around anything DC is doing right now. Sure, you could make the argument that The Dark Knight trilogy is where the bar is because Those Are Incredible Goddamned Movies, but it's also drastically different from virtually anything Marvel puts out (often times, its most effective moments....and there are many....are more crime drama than superheroics), it's comparing apples and oranges.

The Dark Knight series was an experiment in what most superhero films had been up until a certain point: Taking comics and distorting them to create a visual experience unique to cinema in a way that wouldn't necessarily do as well translating back to comic format. In other words, Nolan did well in taking elements of Batman: Year One and Knightfall and putting them more in line with the aesthetic he's known for, but those movies (most notably Dark Knight Rises) wouldn't be as effective for fans as a comic. Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the closest I've ever seen a movie being a 1:1 translation of comic book sensibilities to the screen, aside from maybe Sin City and Watchmen (which was, perhaps, a little too enslaved to the source material).

The movie tailored itself to what its principal cast does well. Drax is pretty much the role Dave Bautista has been TRYING to play since he started acting so this worked out very well for him. I am convinced that Josh Brolin could have been on screen with no make up or costuming and still been an effective Thanos. Right now, nobody else in Hollywood does the "sorta squinting death stare" as well as he does. Who would have thought Vin Diesel would be given three words to say in different inflections for an entire movie.....and end up with maybe the most poignant role of his entire career? And Bradley Cooper's Rocket Raccoon was so good, I almost had to remind myself that was Bradley Cooper's voice. There were so many naysayers before there was even a trailer (I'm looking at you, Cracked), making fun about a movie with a talking raccoon as if Man of Steel didn't make Superman's dad basically the best Siri update ever. All those shadebenders almost HAVE to shut up now.

As a whole, Guardians, as well as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, have shown exactly why Marvel's rather rabid fanbase remains reasonably loyal to what is basically the monolith of superhero movies at this point. I stand by my statement that Batman v Superman won't be a terrible venture like everyone thinks, but as far as competition (and let's face it....the Big Two ARE directly competing), DC has a lot of ground to cover.

Oh and Chris Pratt's slightly more irreverent portrayal of Peter Quill confirmed what I've known for some time now: Han Solo has become a genre of film.

The Week in Geek 8/6/14

So, this week, Black Nerd Problems published an exchange between me and my editor, Will Evans about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and whether it's a Pass or a Play. Granted, I argued for seeing the movie mainly because thus far, I haven't personally seen any aspect of it that makes the whole thing a "non starter" like it has with some. In truth, I think the thing that has hindered the movie before we even got a trailer is the perpetual press junket. I harped on this a little bit in my Comic Con commentary last week but as a whole, (running the risk of sounding like an old man) I think cinema in general has been somewhat hindered in the era of social media.

Don't get me wrong. As a member of "New Media", I recognized how much progress has been made as far as independent property being circulated and having so many options for alternatives to hoping for the old mainstream venues to notice you. However, for the mainstream big budget films, I remember seeing nothing more than a thirty second trailer and maybe an endorsement from some fast food joint and being able to go into a movie cold with an open mind about what I was about to see. BvS is a prime example of how there is a headline now to tell you every single level of the production process to the point where there's no mystery anymore. Marvel is a pretty good example of an outfit that knows how to use the media engine to its advantage, control what gets out and treat their fanbase to some quality tidbits for its loyalty, but even with that in mind, I still basically walked into Guardians of the Galaxy KNOWING it's going to be awesome as opposed to the degree of wonder that should come from a Marvel movie that doesn't feature conventional superheroes (though, yes, I get that it's in a superhero filled universe). In any case, I'm not exactly #TeamZackSnyder, but I think I've seen enough that movie deserves a we'll see.

Also, I'll have a few thoughts about Guardians of the Galaxy up some time tomorrow.

My comic reviews for the week are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. This week, I took a look at.....

Why the FUCK would you point your flashlight at Killer Croc
and NOT YOUR GUN?!

Batman Eternal: I think every comic has a make/break issue that can harm the quality at any given time. With Warren Ellis books, it's the overall patience of the reader. With Jonathan Hickman books, it's his tendency to meander in the world he builds for the reader. With Greg Land books, it's Greg Land. With Batman Eternal, at any given time, the artwork can easily sink this boat for that week. The gift AND the curse of having Dustin Nguyen on the title was that it raised the bar. Anyone who's seen his previous work on Batman books knows that his style feels so natural for this universe. Then, for Andy Clarke to have to follow up behind Nguyen's gorgeous work was rough. It was a decent job, but after a plot where some of the panels were simply terrifying, chasing monsters in the sewers should have felt much scarier and atmospheric than this did. Hopefully, this improves next week.

Iron Fist, The Living Weapon: I'm really having a hard time deciding whether we're going to look back in a couple of months and find this to be a sleeper hit by the time Kaare Andrews is done....or if Marvel is going to cancel it prematurely and leave us wondering what happened to this run in a few years when someone else comes along and gives it the Shang Chi treatment (I'm sorry, but that book is awful).

Stuff I Read This Week: The Stuff Returns

Guardians of the Galaxy #12: Refresher: In case you've missed it, Original Jean Grey (from the first days of the X-Men) is stuck in the present day, learning about the checkered future ahead of her. Of course, the Shi'ar is still pissed about how she grew up to kill a few planets...so they'd like to "talk" to her about that.

Marvel's crossover events don't always hit the bullseye the way they should (looking at you, Age of Ultron) and sometimes, if they go on long enough, they seem to lose steam (that means you, Battle of the Atom), but this one seems to have a wild card in that regard: Brian Michael Bendis. "The Trial of Jean Grey" story arc takes two titles that have flourishes during the Bendis era and amplifies the things that work the best about his books in particular. He likes to go back and highlight certain aspects of superheroes that comics, in their long history and often fast paced nature, glaze over.

Anyone whose read any X-comics in the past couple of years can see that Cyclops clearly has prevailing daddy issues (He's all "wah wah, my daddy was dead and then in space"....pussy). Now, it probably wouldn't be a great idea to have Grown Up Cyclops pissing and whining about his father, but watching Young Scott Summers experience catharsis while on his way to fight space aliens to save the future love of his life? Yeah, that might be kinda awesome.

Still, the BEST part of this issue was watching Gladiator and the dissent in the ranks of his Imperial Guard. Oracle is an intriguing character and works well, unwittingly serving as the Gladiator's nagging conscience. That'll definitely be a lot to see play out in the last two issues. Sara Pichelli and Stuart Immonen's respective art styles play well off of each other. Granted, Pichelli did the majority of the pencils, but the expressive faces came in very handy for this issue which featured some pivotal emotional responses.

Bottom Line: Although it took four out of six issues to get down to the titular event, Bendis has made some rather entertaining detours that make for an engaging crossover. 8 out of 10.

Origin II: Refresher: A look into the early beginnings of James Howlett aka Logan aka Wolverine's time in the wild, led to believe his feral nature left him unable to belong among civilization.

Okay, quite honestly, I have NO idea why this series needs to exist. In the past ten years or so, Wolverine has gone from being an enigma to being the most mysterious figure in the Marvel Universe that we know damn near everything about. We've seen some backstories in the past year that we were better off not knowing (Thanos Rising) and others that work purely off the steam of a good writer's fresh eyes (Batman's "Zero Year"). If ever there were a comic book character who NEVER really needs another flashback story ever again, it's Wolverine.

Having said that, this follow up to the decade old Andy Kubert masterpiece "Origin" is actually pretty good. In for Paul Jenkins is Kieron Gillen at the helm with Andy Kubert's artwork duties passed on to his brother Adam. The result is pretty satisfying. For the most part, it picks up where the first one left off with Logan silently living in the wilderness with wolves. However, as anyone who has ever read a Wolverine comic knows....peace doesn't last very long for this guy. This issue in particular highlights the bond forming between Logan and gentle hearted animal tracker, Clara as well as Victor Creed, the callous tool who come be known as Sabertooth.

This is an enjoyable read with framework comparable to that of Tarzan or maybe even Princess Mononoke. It serves as a nice break from the psuedo-superhero/father figure of the Jean Grey school we've known from recent years and reminds us of what's most intriguing about Wolverine in the first place. Adam Kubert's pencils manage to maintain his brother's aesthetic tone. Every panel looks extremely clean in a very old fashioned way we don't see very much of these days with some of the best facial expressions I've seen all week.

Bottom Line: Even though the concept as whole feels extremely "been there," it's still a really good read. 8 out of 10

Stuff I Read This Week Episode 21 or Ridley Scott Should Buy Us All Comics As An Apology For Prometheus....

The Wake #3: This is quickly becoming one of my favorite books to pick up because it does sci-fi horror better than a lot of sci fi horror films (I'm looking at you, Prometheus AKA The Dumbest Scientists in the Universe). With the right writer, it's pretty hard to fuck up an "scientists trapped underwater with a killer sea creature" concept. There are ten issues in this series, it's issue three and we've already entered the "Holy Shit" phase of the story.

The evil-mermaid-sea monster-thing has gotten loose to the surprise of no one and has Dr. Lee Archer and the rest of her crew on the run. The strongest aspect of this book gets much stronger as the spotlight is placed heavily on the claustrophobic tension of this quickly escalating situation, reminiscent of Alien (as I mentioned in the first issue's review). Archer's survival meets sympathy attitude makes for an enjoyable female lead, but the MVP award for this issue has to go to the prize hunter, Meeks. Anyone who was a fan of Robert Shaw's character in Jaws will get a kick out of Meeks' "fuck yeah" moment here. There's a little more exposition in this issue than you would normally want out of a story like this, but yet again, Scott Snyder manages to keep the book moving while maintaining tension. Sean Murphy's attention to detail only gets better as the series goes on. Mix that with Matt Hollingsworth's coloring and you have one of the most consistently gorgeous books running right now. Every moment on most panel turns you into an asshole movie goer, virtually screaming at every page, "Oh my God...GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!!!!"

Bottom Line: This book is going from good to great in no time at all. Shit is getting creepy really quick. This is what you should be setting your calendar for each month. 9.5 out of 10

Guardians of the Galaxy #5: Okay, in a way, this book has double duty. In addition to the pressure for it not to suck because it's going to be a movie pretty soon, it also has to successfully shove Angela, Spawn's angel girlfriend (or whatever) down our throats. Fortunately, it has succeeded on both counts so far.

Since they've been in space doing space shit, The Guardians don't know that time and space have become slightly unglued because people on Earth keep fucking with it and there's no such thing as Doctor Who in Marvel continuity. Basically, this issue sees our heroes catching up with the major events going on in the rest of the universe which is a strength and a weakness. If you didn't read Age of Ultron (which you really shouldn't unless you're trapped in line at the DMV), you're not going to have any idea why any of this is happening. Brian Bendis actually wrote Age of Ultron and I'm convinced that HE doesn't even know what happened. Nonetheless, he seems to have plenty of fun with his characters leading up to the confrontation advertised on the cover which, by the way, was satisfying enough. The addition of Iron Man to the team has been a welcome one thus far. It was a good idea to have a more familiar mainstream hero be our guide through the rules and pitfalls of Marvel's galactic continuity, someone we can discover (or for more seasoned readers, rediscover) comic book outer space with. Bendis has really succeeded in giving these characters distinctive voices that manage to make you laugh and make you slightly uncomfortable at times as good characters should while still driving the plot forward this time around. Sara Pichelli's artwork serves its purpose well enough, but I really wish she wouldn't leave the backgrounds so lifeless during close-ups. It makes some of the more serious moments a bit cartoonish like something I would expect from Deadpool.

Bottom Line: Even if you're not up to date on current events in the Marvel U, this is a good book in a good series serving as a crash course for the developing movie event. 8 out of 10.

Uncanny X-Men #9: Well, I'm really glad this book has picked up speed again. The whole "X-Men vs Hell" story had me a little worried, but Bendis has managed to get back to what readers seems to like about this title: Outlaw X-Men versus S.H.I.E.L.D. Continuing where we left off last issue, we're reintroduced to long time X-Man and former disco performer (No, I'm not kidding), Dazzler working for Maria Hill and being a lot less perky than the heroine we're used to. I'm interested to see whether or not Brian Bendis will elaborate on what's happened since we last saw her that would bring her to the government's doorstep for a makeover into, as Cyclops called her, the "Uncle Tom of mutants." She doesn't seem to be a completely treacherous character here, but considering her treatment of underage detainees, it's easy to see where both sides are coming from. Bendis does what Bendis does best here: characterization. Scott Summers' young recruits find a little more of an identity in this book. We especially get a nice "coming of age" moment here with the Stepford Sisters discovering togetherness in their budding individualities. It's very refreshing to have such strong growth in new characters, offering endearing, lighthearted moments while maintaining this book's status as the "Dark Avengers" of the X-Universe. Though Chris Bachalo's style took some getting used to for me with this title, his designs are really interesting and his willingness to use all of the space is nice. However, the panels that deal with a larger cast of characters can feel cluttered and distracting at times. Still, this is an X-title that has had some bumps but is really coming around.

Bottom Line: I expected just a little more from Bachalo's artwork, but it's still looks good enough, combined with the strong "this is who we are" focus on this installment, to make the whole thing work. 8 out of 10.