Marathoning Movies for the Modern Man: Black Panther
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has now broken the 36 hour threshold, and with three new entries in the franchise coming this year it doesn’t make any sense to do a full rewatch for every new Marvel movie. For Black Panther, there are really only three movies that you need to see in order to be ready for the newest addition.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Andy Serkis’ Ulysses Klaue only shows up in the second Avengers movie for a few short minutes, but he’ll surely be featured more heavily in Black Panther. He’s one of the biggest villains in the Panther comics, known for his powers of sound and his sonic arm. Ultron features what seems like the beginning of his descent from black market arms dealer to fully fledged supervillain.
Captain America: Civil War
Civil War seems more tied into Black Panther than any other in the MCU. The character himself is introduced, as he tries to get revenge for the death of his father. T’Chaka’s death is sure to continue to affect T’Challa’s outlook, and makes him the leader of Wakanda. Civil War also features the first image of Wakanda, and several characters move there at the end of the movie. It’ll be good to revisit the third Captain America film in order to refresh your memory of what’s going on in the Marvel Universe at large.
Creed
From all reports from those who’ve seen it, Black Panther is like no Marvel movie we’ve seen before. Director Ryan Coogler has a history of making truly unique franchise films. When he was asked to make the seventh film in the Rocky franchise, he turned in something better than anybody expected. He took a franchise that had become stale and gave it life and diversity. Creed is the perfect franchise film. It kept the core of the franchise, but the director’s vision carried through uninterrupted. With any luck, Black Panther will show the same distinct Coogler feeling while also holding true to its Marvel roots.
