Black Panther is one of the most popular and bad-ass superheroes in the whole Marvel universe. He is a master strategist, brilliant scientist, and highly skilled fighter. He incorporates animal mimicry and martial arts into his fighting style. He is a great Wakandan warrior who is loved by his people. He is also known as “King of the Dead” as the entire wealth of knowledge and wisdom of all the previous Black Panthers transfers to him.
Marvel saw an enormous opportunity in Black Panther as a character and decided to introduce him into the MCU in Captain America: Civil War. He accompanied his father King T’Chaka to the UN congregation where representatives of more than 150 countries came to sign Sokovia accords after Avengers left a trail of destruction while fighting Ultron. It led to the loss of property and lives of countless innocents who were caught in the crossfire.
But T’Challa lost his father King T’Chaka in a massive explosion in the UN building carried out by Winter soldier at the behest of Baron Zemo who brainwashed him and use him as his personal lapdog. Black Panther wanted to hunt down Bucky aka Winter Soldier and settle the score, so he joined Team Iron Man in the Civil War. Later on, he came to know about the reality that it was Zemo behind creating fissures within the Avengers.
The actor Chadwick Boseman was pretty solid as Black Panther that Marvel finally decided to make a solo movie and brought Ryan Coogler ( who directed Creed) to direct this one, he became the first Black man to have been at the helm of a major Marvel movie.
Black Panther was a revolutionary and groundbreaking movie that brought the first solo outing of the King of Wakanda, T’Challa. It was truly inspired by the comics as director Ryan Coogler cherry-picked the best moments from all of Black Panther’s comic book runs and crafted a remarkable story that was loved by all. It was just an incredible movie on the part of Marvel.
The plot of the movie was really intriguing as instead of focusing on the traditional origin story, it picked up the pieces of Civil War and constructed a powerful narrative around ascendancy of T’Challa to the throne of Wakanda. He faced a tough challenger in the form of Erick Killmonger (played by Michael B. Jordan) who beat him at first and pushed him off the cliff, he miraculously survived the fall and reclaimed his throne. The other supporting cast was also marvelous.
Overall, it was truly fantastic and a great addition to Marvel roster of movies. But the only problem so to speak was that it did not set up Avengers Infinity War in any which way. The last remaining Infinity Stone i.e Soul stone was speculated to be in the Kingdom of Wakanda but there was no easter-egg in the movie that would have confirmed that.
The movie has done really well in all aspects as it is the highest rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes and it is absolutely crushed the Box Office in all fronts beating some really huge movie franchises. It became the highest grossing Superhero movie ever at the Domestic Box Office beating the former topper, The Avengers which had earnings of $623 Million.
Black Panther currently stands at $630 Million at the US Box Office, and it has overall earnings of $1.23 Billion worldwide. By these numbers, it is the highest also the highest grossing solo Superhero movie and it is still running strong. Here is a list of the Top movie franchises Black Panther has beaten!
The DCEU
Marvel’s biggest rival in the same genre, is currently the DCEU which did not manage to have the similar success that the MCU got except for Wonder Woman. But Black Panther has totally outclassed all the movies of the DCEU. It took down Batman V Superman Dawn of Justice ($873 Million), Wonder Woman ($821 Million), Suicide Squad ($745.6 Million), Man of Steel ($668 Million) and Justice League ($656 Million).
The Whole X-Men Franchise
Another competitor in the Superhero Genre was Fox’s X-Men Universe, and it has taken every movie out with ease. Box Office: X-Men ($296.3 Million), X2 ($407.7 Million), X-Men: The Last Stand ($459.3 Million), X-Men Origins: Wolverine ($373.0 Million), X-Men: First Class ($353.6 Million), The Wolverine ($414.8 Million), X-Men: Days of Future Past ($747.8 Million), X-Men: Apocalypse ($543.9 Million), Deadpool ($783.1 Million) and Logan ($616.8 Million).
All Spider-Man movies
Sam Raimi’s trilogy got ripped apart, The Amazing Spider-Man Franchise got taken down and not even MCU’s Spider-Man Homecoming could stand against the king of Wakanda. Box Office: The Amazing Spider-Man ($757.9 Million), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($708.9 Million), Spider-Man ($821.7 Million), Spider-Man 2 ($783.6 Million) Spider-Man 3 ($890 Million) and Spider-Man Homecoming ($880 Million).
The Dark Knight Trilogy
Not even the best Superhero trilogy was a match for Black Panther at the Box Office. Box Office: Batman Begins ($ 374 Million), The Dark Knight ($ 1.004 Billion) and The Dark Knight Rises ($1.08 Billion).
Almost all Harry Potter Universe Movies
Box Office: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ($974 Million), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ($878 Million), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ($796 Million), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ($896 Million), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ($942 Million), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($935 Million), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I ($960 Million) and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them ($803 Million). The only one left is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II with $1.34 Billion.
All These Fast and Furious movies
Box Office: The Fast and the Furious ($206 Million), 2 Fast 2 Furious ($236 Million), The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift ($157 Million), Fast & Furious ($363 Million), Fast and Furious 6 ($789 Million), The Fate of the Furious ($1.23 Billion). Furious 7 looks to be a little far from the Panther’s reach with $1.5 Billion.
The Whole Transformers Franchise
Box Office: Transformers ($708 Million), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($836 Million), Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($1.12 Billion), Transformers: Age of Extinction ($1.1 Billion) and Transformers: The Last Knight ($603 Million).
The Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise
Box Office: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl ($634 Million), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl ($1.06 Billion), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End ($963 Million), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($1.04 Billion) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales ($794 Million).
All The James Bond Movies
Box Office: Dr. No ($59 Million), From Russia With Love ($78 Million), Goldfinger ($124 Million), Thunderball ($141 Million), You Only Live Twice ($111 Million), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service ($82 Million), Diamonds Are Forever ($116 Million), Live and Let Die ($161 Million), The Man with the Golden Gun ($97 Million), The Spy Who Loved Me ($185 Million), Moonraker ($210 Million), For Your Eyes Only ($195 Million), Octopussy ($187 Million), Never Say Never Again ($160 Million), A View to a Kill ($152 Million), The Living Daylights ($191 Million), Licence to Kill ($156 Million), Goldeneye ($356 Million), Tomorrow Never Dies ($339 Million), The World is Not Enough ($361 Million), Die Another Day ($431 Million), Casino Royale ($594 Million), Quantum of Solace ($591 Million), Skyfall ($1.11 Billion) and Spectre ($879 Million).
Almost all other MCU Movies
Box Office: The Incredible Hulk ($263.4 Million), Captain America: The First Avenger ($370.5 Million), Thor ($449.3 Million), Ant-Man ($519.3 Million), Iron Man ($585.1 Million), Iron Man 2 ($623.9 Million), Thor: The Dark World ($644.5 Million), Doctor Strange ($677.7 Million), Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($714.2 Million), Guardians of the Galaxy ($773.3 Million), Thor: Ragnarok ($850 Million), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($863 Million), Spider-Man Homecoming ($880 Million), Captain America: Civil War ($1.15 Billion), Iron Man 3 ($1.21 Billion). The only two MCU movies Black Panther might not manage to take down worldwide are The Avengers ($1.5 Billion) and Avengers: Age of Ultron ($1.4 Billion).
Black Panther is running in theaters and if you still have not seen, don’t miss it for the world. Here is the official synopsis released by Marvel studios:
“After the death of his father, T’Challa returns home to the African nation of Wakanda to take his rightful place as king. When a powerful enemy suddenly reappears, T’Challa’s mettle as king — and as Black Panther — gets tested when he’s drawn into a conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people”.
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