Recently spotted job listings at EA's Motive and Cliffhanger Games studios have?? given awa??y that both the publisher's upcoming Iron Man and Black Panther games will feature open world environments.

Very little has been shared on either project since their announcements though Motive did recently say development on its Iron Man game is going smoothly amid news of the studio forming a team to work on the Battlefield series. In lieu of any trailers or formal updates fr??om EA, these two job listings have given us the next best thing by confirming open world settings for both games.

A listing for a senior technical artist position ???at Motive is labelled specifically for the Iron Man game, and says the successful candidate will "help oversee the rendering related aspects of an open world action adventure AAA title." Meanwhile, Cliffhanger Games is looking for a principal sandbox designer who will be "instrumental in designing and populating encounters, systems, and gameplay within a dynamic and evolving open worl??d." This listing doesn't say the job is specifically for the Black Panther game, but that's the only project ?Cliffhanger is publicly working on.

Although there's no hard confirmation, it's very safe to as?sume the Black Panther game will be set in Wakanda, the fictional country that Black Panther calls home. Cliffhanger's job listing also mentions working with the AI engineering team to "create sophisticated AI behaviors that enhance the open-world experience, from urban crowds to wildlife ecosystems." This suggests players will get to explore not just Wakanda's city and villages, but also the jungle surr?ounding it. It's much harder guessing where the Iron Man game will take place, but the prospect of flying around a populated city in the Iron Man armor is an exciting one nonetheless.

There's no telling when EA will show off either game, though. While Motive has commented on how well the Iron Man game is progressing, Cliffhanger hasn't confirmed any tangible details about the Black Panther game. Both projects are presumably in good hands, given the studios' track records. Motive received a lot of praise for its work on the Dead Space remake, and though the Black Panther project is Cliffhanger's first? game, the studio is comprised of industry veterans who have worked on the likes of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and God of War (via GamesIndustry.biz).

It's an awkward time for both projects, however, since EA CEO Andrew Wilson, whilst confirming job losses within the company, admitted a couple of months ago that the company would be "moving away from development of future licensed IP," suggesting EA's lost interest in releasing games based on other companies' franchises. There's nothing to indicate this has affected EA's deal with Marvel though. Aside from the Iron Man and Black Panther games, there's supposed to be one other Marvel game in the works at EA, according to the original announcement about the two companies' partnership.

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Wakanda forever!

It looks like the heavily rumored Black Panther game is real. Electronic Arts revealed?? an all new Seattle-ba?sed AAA development studio, Cliffhanger Games, as the developer.

Cliffhanger is led by industry veteran Kevin Stephens, former Studio Head of Monolith Productions. Monolith is best known for Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel Shadow of War.

“We’re dedicated to delivering fans a definitive and authentic Black Panther experience, giving them more agency and control over their narrative than they have ever experienced in a story-driven video game. Wakanda is a rich SuperHero sandbox, and our mission is to develop an epic world for players who love Black Panther and want to explore the world of Wakanda as much as we? do,�Kevin said.

Black Panther will feature an original story as a th??ird-person single-player game. Cliffhanger will work directly with Marvel Games to ensure Wakanda feels authentic.

At this point it seems like every big publisher has a piece of the Marvel pie. Sony has Spider Man while Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal recently released Marvel's Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy.

This project marks Electronic Arts' first foray into the Marvel universe since Marvel Nesmesis: Rise of the Imperfects released back in 2005. Between Sony's Marvel's Spider Man 2 coming October 20 and this newly revealed Black Panther game, Marvel fans have a lot to look forward to.

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The captain and the king are teaming up

Today, we got a bri?ef gli??mpse at what Skydance New Media is working on for Marvel. The project is still untitled, but looks to involve both Black Panther and Captain America in the studio's Marvel game.

The project doesn't have an offic?ial title right now, and was referred to as "Marvel | Skydanc?e New Media Project" during the showcase.

While we didn't get a title, what we did see was confirmation of reports that this game would feature both Captain America and Black Panther. Here's the teaser:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f5JMCX1-7I

We can catch some glimpses of Black Panther, as well as some claw marks on the shie??ld. We see both Paris and Wakanda as well, and likely some more visual teasers surrounding HYDRA that fans will probably piece together.

W?ith the? tag "four heroes, two worlds, one war," it will be interesting to see what this team puts together.

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when

Skydance New Media is the studio led by Uncharted co-creator Amy Hennig and former Electronic Arts dev Julian Bea?k. The developer revealed it was working on a new ?Marvel game last year, describing it as a narrative-driven action-adventure game.

Hennig and co. are also working on a new Star Wars game, which will also be an action-adventure affair.

Both Captain America and Black Panther seem like excellent picks for an action-adventure title, and a crossover between the two could go some interesting places. We don't have much to pu??ll out of today's announcement, but hopefully we'll get some more details soon on Skydance New Media and Marvel'??s project.

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A single-player Black Panther game could be a reality

A new Marvel hero may be getting their own game. Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb reports that a Black Panther game is in development at Electronic Arts.

After teasing the project the night before, Grubb reported on the project during today's Game Mess Mornings program. The Black Panther game would be made by a new team, likely from a S??eattle studio led by former Monolith Productions studio head Kevin Stephens.

It's reportedly in very early development, and is a "big, open-world" Black Panther game. It also, apparently, won't be a live-service game. The project started due to the success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Grubb also reports that the player will be traini??ng to b??ecome the new Black Panther, after the death of the former bearer of the mantle.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlOB3UALvrQ

No official announcement of the project has ?been released from Electronic Art?s.

Even more Marvel in the pipeline

Though nothing has been officially confirmed, EA did announce the establishment of that new studio from Stephens last year. Stephens oversaw Monolith Productions during the creation of both Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War, which is pretty plainly exciting. Warner Bros. has patented that excellent Nemesis system though, so don't put all your chips on that.

There are several Marvel projects officially in the works, including this year's upcoming Marvel Midnight Suns from XCOM studio Firaxis. And further out, Insomniac is working on both a Wolverine title and a follow-up to Marvel's Spider-Man, featuring Peter Parker, Miles Morales, and the one and only Venom.

Add in the live-service Marvel's Avengers from Square Enix, and there's little shortage of Marvel video games. A single player-focused title centered around Black Panther, though, could be a pretty interesting sight to see. Especially if it was spurred on by the success of Jedi: Fallen Order. We'??ll have to wait for official confirm??ation to arrive.

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Franchise filmmaking Forever!

With the first Black Panther film from Marvel Studios being such a huge box office and critical hit, a sequel was only inevitable. What was less certain, however, was the film's director and co-writer Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed) returning. No need to worry anymore, as THR confirmed that?? Coogler will return as writer-director for the ?Black Panther follow-up.

The deal was slow in the making until recently, with Coogler being said to begin writing the screenplay next year with a production start in either late 2019 or early 2020. A release date from Marvel Studios and Disney is unknown at the moment, but expect Disney to make a push for the first film in their Oscar campaigning, especially without a "popular film category" anymore.

Coogler's return is exciting for me as a fan of the first film, but I was hoping that the filmmaker would move on to more intimate and personal projects now that he's gained so much capital in Hollywood. He chose to not take on Creed II, instead having relatively unknown director Steven Caple Jr. take on the task—imagine Coogler passing the tor??ch to another up-and-coming young black filmmaker.

Still, Coogler is also set to work on a drama film called Wrong Answer with his usual collaborator Michael B. Jordan, and he'll be an executive producer on the new Space Jam movie, so he won't be a Marvel guy forever. Look forward to the next Black Panther in the future, whe?re T'Challa will rebuild hi?mself after his last appearance broke him down.

Ryan Coogler Signs on to Write and Direct 'Black Panther?' Sequel [THR]

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Box office round up

Black Panther crushed it once again, pulling in more money than the next seven films combined. That was pretty much a given, though. The film didn't have any competition this week, and pulled in the third biggest gross for a third weekend of all time. With A Wrinkle in Time opening this weekend it'll probably lose its number one spot, but the film should easily continue to rise rapidly through the box office rankings, where it currently sits at number 10. It's worth noting that most of the other films making this much money were released in time frames that are a boon for movies making money while Black Panther&??nbsp;is doing this during a tradit??ional cinematic down time.

Obviously Marvel and Disney are pretty happy with this, and over the weekend Disney announced its release schedule through 2023, and there will be a lot more Marvel coming. In fact there are seven Marvel films coming after Avengers 4 lands marking the start of "Phase 4" of the MCU. We already know a few of these movies like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and some sequels to Spider-Man Homecoming, but ??little else is confirmed. So wha??t do you want to see? More Black Panther? A slate of new heroes? A rebirth of some other heroes? What's the future of the MCU?

1. Black Panther - $65,705,000
2. Red Sparrow - $17,000,000
3. Death Wish - $13,025,000
4. Game Night - $10,710,000
5. Peter Rabbit - $10,000,000
6. Annihilation - $5,650,000
7. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - $4,500,000
8. Fifty Shades Freed - $3,310,000
9. The Greatest Showman - $2,675,000
10. Every Day - $1,553,195

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An important distinction to celebrate

There’s something to be said about the excitement surrounding Black Panther. That it's profoundly impacted so many people, particularly black people, to see the world of Marvel’s Black Panther comic books adapted for the bi??g screen is considered an affront to some individuals whose existence, both in fiction and reality, is routinely reaffirmed and so they feel entitled to what they take for granted.

I can't put a number on the umpteenth occasions fans of Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, other Marvel and DC films, and various video games and anime series have congregated before a convention or cineplex cosplaying as their favorite characters, brandishing weapons, tools, jewelry, and other paraphernalia that is true to some fictional work or another but indisputably inspired by historical illustrations of European attire? and technology (yes, even most anime). When young white males and young white females self-identify with the fictional lives of Peter Parker and Bella Swan or insist upon a work of fiction having helped them through suicidal thoughts and difficult times, no one bats a lash.

Flash Gordon, John Carter of Mars, King Kong, and other fantasy films and franchises inspired by the likes of Robinson ?Crusoe positively reinforce the reality of European colonialism and racial fetishism, placing indigenous people on the receiving end of their “superior” causes&helli??p; Let’s not even bother counting the many films and television series based on Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology, all of them conceived through the creative lenses of those of European if not Anglican descent, or discuss those opportunities to feature characters of color in films based on Egyptian mythology or Biblical epics that are whitewashed through casting and stripped of any culture from the regions from which these stories are inspired.

Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Chadwick Boseman as its titular super hero, doesn’t fix the absence of indigenous and ethnic voices in mainstream sci-fi and fantasy but it’s a go?od? start.

What Black Panther does well is cast a group of unlikely but familiar faces in a plot of political intrigue so arresting and current I half-expected Robert Redford to rise from his MCU grave to assume a role outside of Captain America: The Winter Soldier's Alexander Pierce. The film establishes parallels early on and uses symmetry to propel its plot in such a way that Boseman's T'Challa and Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger feel like two characters walking on the same path from two points on different ends of the same spectrum (yeah, you read that sentence). The politically-charged themes that resurface throughout the film feel purposeful and on-the-nose in a way that helps draw attention to the irony of what Black Panther fixes by its very existence. It fixes what we've seen before, in regard to high-concept science fiction and fantasy and who's exactly telling that story, making a feature-length film out of what's conceptually an exceptional episode of Star Trek.

Black Panther fixes the expectation of execution if not the double-standard used to dismiss its significance, which is why when people strawman argue, “There’s been black super heroes before so you enjoying and making too much of this hurts my brain,” while their comic book movies of nothing but films featuring white super heroes as the main protagonist, in a variety of thematic ways, within fictional worlds that reflect their image as diverse and realistic quietly collects dust on shelves somewhere, it doesn’t faze me in the least bit. When people say they are excited to see Black Pantherfor its portrayal of a black super hero protagonist we all know what they really mean and to argue semantics is simply an attempt to invalidate the excitement of black fans and general audienc?es. At long last, the roles are reversed. The indigenous often explored and exploited are now the focus, their existence made fully realized and nuanced through character and theme, and their tale is not one of benefit or suffering at the ?hands of a dominant colonizing culture.

Black Panther flips the script on what it means to be &??ldquo;other”.

The most popular science-fiction and fantasy deals with the unknown. The idea of extraterrestrial invasion, monstrous specimens, zombie epidemics, or orcs representing a threat to be dealt with resonates with whatever political or social fear dominated the conversation at any given point in human history. The film adaptation of H.G. Well’s novel War of the Worlds, Invaders from Mars, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers echoed the paranoid Communist hysteria provoked and encouraged by the United States government in the 1950s. King Kong, in ev?ery iteration, is an imperialist fever dream of the east, sometimes Africa and sometimes Asia, where beauty is a European standard that is threatened? by the untamed virility of “other”.

We persist into the 21^st century with the reality of nationalist propaganda revisiting similar themes of dehumanization and scapegoating still looming over us, tragic events like 9/11 and perpetual war in the Middle East having paved the way for shows like 24 and Homeland and any quasi-political film thereafter to associate “bad guy” with a turban, one religion, and a brown skin tone. The American westerns of old, often depicting those indigenous to the American continents as savage (a term repeatedly used by Andy Serkis' Ulysses Klaue in reference to Wakandians), uncivilized, and in need of colonial containment, are less popular now but whenever any film revisits the plight of Native Americans it’s just that, a plight, a story about an insulated people in need of a white savior à la Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves, John Smith in Disney’s Pocahontas, and James Cameron’s Avatar.

In Black Panther, the fictional nation of Wakanda is not a devastated land at the mercy of colonial invaders. Wakandians are not an “other” who are disadvantaged, displaced, exploited, or dominated by an imperialist culture. The story of the character Black Panther, King T’Challa and his royal court, is not that of a “struggle film” dealing in drug epidemics, poverty, black American crime or a Western history of ??slavery, oppression and segregation. It is none of these things but acknowledges the existence of these things and that’s why it matters so damn much to so damn many.

Black Panther is a story told through the eyes of those who have been historically depicted as “other”. The film celebrates the customs and cultures found throughout the African continent, the spirituality, clothes, sounds, music, movements, speech, and designs that continue to influence the African diaspora in reverence of that influence rather than in je??st.

My mind can’t help but compare it to Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America. Though most black Americans I know elevate the film for its depiction of a fictional African nation that is ruled by black African royalty, its adherence to black American comedy beats and American ideology neutralizes the impact of seeing that world fully realized for a mainstream audience. Luke Cage, though a show about a black super hero who operates out of the historically black neighborhood of Harlem, exists within a world imagined as rea?l America, impacted by a history of chattel slavery, segregation and integration, oppressive housing tactics, “whi??te flight”, CIA-enforced drug peddling, and police brutality.

Black Panther doesn’t shy away from the conversation of blackness and what that looks like in the dominant culture, specifically the United States, but the world of Wakanda does not adhere to the expectations of the outside world regarding black people nor is it affected by the widespread devastation of European colonialism. Wakanda is state nationalism at its finest, what most alt-right Americans long for in the United States, and whether that sits well with you as an audience member will greatly depend on what you, the audi??ence member, think black ex??cellence and the black experience ought to look like to the rest of the world.

A fictional and futuristic depiction of the black experience and black excellence, to me, looks like Black Panther. It looks like a world that, though grounded in reality, assumes science-fiction and fantasy tropes in the same sober and earnest fashion as Star Trek and The Lord of the Rings respectively. It explores the "what if" of African national sovereignty and explores that possibly withi?n a practically Shakespearean tale of kingship, betrayal, and family without implication of intellectual or cultural superiority over the existence of other black media. It indirectly encourages black people and black creatives like myself to really cons?ider how we see ourselves, how our perception of ourselves shapes our media, and how that media is viewed by a larger, non-black audience. What does it mean to see Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, and Letitia Wright, three beautiful dark skin black women, in positions of strength as well as vulnerability, protected and elevated by the equally dark-skinned black men in the cast? Why is that not only important to see in mainstream media but in the fictional black community of Wakanda?

Black Panther has arrived and conversation, much like before its release, continues to dissect and analyze every aspect of its existence. When it’s good, it looks like explorations into the origins of its score and the African tri?bal styles that influenced the wardrobe, discussions on how the world of Black Panther benefits the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, conversa??tions on the African perspective ?of the film, and “What Black Panther Means to Me”. When it’s bad, it looks like political pandering on either side of the spectrum, a misconstruction of its comic book origins (and the Black Panther Party of the same name) in an attempt to claim inherent racism, and people like Ben Shapiro.

I look forward to a future where Afrofuturism is more than music videos and underrated black artists whose innate style and presentation reflects a rich and stolen history of technological advancement and civilization, the black imagery that’s historically neglected by major film studios for fear of upse?tting the dominant narrative of what “other” looks like and a refusal to accept anything that isn’t upheld by a status quo of exclusionary practices.

Black Panther has surpassed $235 million in its four-day opening, making it the fifth-biggest film to make over $200 million in its weekend debut. I can't help but hope this bodes well for the future of such endeavors that provide the kind of studio backing and budgeting to creative voices not usually afforded a tent-pole film. It'll be interesting to see how audiences flock to other films of this ilk and whether the effort to bring fully realized black culture to the big screen will receive similar fanfare. Because Black Panther is still a comic book movie, subject to the idiosyncrasies of big blockbuster franchise?s and the popularity they incur, but one that traffics in black storytelling in a way never before seen or done on this cali??ber, in or outside of its genre, and that’s deserving of celebration.

Black Panther is in theaters now.

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Fight the power

The fact of the matter is you don't see movies like Black Panther made. I'm not talking about the groundbreaking facts you already know about the movie: an almost entirely black cast, with an almost entirely black creative team leading, given the budget of a film that usually reserved for movies with predominantly white casts, directed by predominantly white men. You know that, and if you don't, guess what: Black Panther is a black movie. Shock! Awe!

A million people, far more qualified than me, are going to talk about how important this film is in that way. No, I'm talking about a different way in which Black Panther is a movie you don't see made that often. It's an MCU movie that stands on its own in almost every way. The film doesn't need the MCU to bolster it up, and it completely ignores it (except for the obligatory stinger at the end). Not since Ant-Man has a Marvel film actually been about the hero in the title, but Black Panther is and it makes it all the better.

Black Panther
Director: Ryan Coogler
Rated: PG-13
Release Date: February 16, 2018

Black Panther's plot is Black Panther's plot. This isn't a universe building film, it's a movie about the newly anointed King T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), and his kingdom of Wakanda. The majority of the film takes place h?ere, as T'Challa is confronted by a usurper for his crown ??in Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), and the kingdom of Wakanda is thrown into turmoil. It's the kind of royal intrigue and politicking you'd expect to find in a BBC period drama about the Tudors, with dashes of action thrown in. It also really shows the fundamental flaws of basing your entire governing system on a one-on-one battle to the death, but that's neither here nor there. 

Black Panther isn't just separate from the MCU in the fact that it ignores most of the universe that surrounds it, but it's tonally and visually different as well. Think of the difference between Guardians of the Galaxy when that first landed, and you'll get a feeling for how separate Black Panther feels. Its story is grand Shakespearean stuff about royalty, betrayal and family. It takes place almost entirely in the country of Wakanda, which has a completely different look and feel to the MCU locations we've seen so far. This isn't to say that Black Panther doesn't fit into the MCU's world, but more that it is its own thing within the?? c??ontext of it. 

Probably the biggest factor in this tonal change is the movie doesn't feel like an action film. If you go in expecting your standard Marvel pacing, as I did, then it can take a moment to re-calibrate for this more deliberately paced film. The fight sequences and big set pieces are pretty far between each other, instead the film focuses in on the bigger-than-life characters to drive the story. That's a far cry from some of the more recent Marvel films, which often feel like their plots are shouted through exposition while punches are being thrown. I'm not coming down here on the rest of the MCU, as most of the films in it are good, but instead trying to illustrate just how different and ambitious Black Panther feels. This is a character movie?? first, and an action movie second.

That's also clear by the fact that the action isn't quite up to Marvel snuff. There are some awesome set pieces put together, and Ryan Coogler is a talented and brilliant director (watch Fruitvale Station and Creed now), but it's pretty clear this is his first big time rodeo. He sticks some moments while other fights get away from him. Sometimes his action direction can be a bit unclear as he cuts away to reaction shots? or chops up fights a bit too much. T??his is by no means a deal breaker, as the fights stay coherent enough, but it's definitely noticeable. Thankfully, he fully makes up for it in almost every other aspect of the film, pulling out impressive performances from impressive actors, and developing his tension in other more dramatic ways.

This is probably most apparent in how the film handles its commentary on current events, never feeling preachy, but often reflecting the truths of our time. Black Panther is much like Coogler's previous films, which take personal stories and use them to comment on bigger themes like race, culture, inequality, and isolationism. A major theme running throughout the film is what Wakanda's role as a technologically advanced society should be in the greater world. Marvel films have been dipping their toe in and out of commentary like this since they started, but never like this. It's a risky move, but Black Panther pulls it off because it feels like part of the world, and part of the story. Comics (especia?lly Marvel's) have always been built around social commentary -- paralleling our own world in larger-than-life ways to more easily digest large issues -- and a Marvel movie finally taking the risk to fully do that is im?pressive. 

Coogler doesn't just play with big thematic ideas about culture, but also turns cinematic tropes on their head repeatedly. Martin Freeman, as returning CIA agent Everett K. Ross, wonderfully flips the token black guy trope on its head playing the Tolkein token white guy. His character is never a caricature to the extent that most token black characters are, but it's a fantastic t?urn in a film that flips almost every Hollywood convention back at itself. The movie plays with norms time and time again, but never beats you over the head with anything. It treats its differences as if they were part of the norm, because that's what they should be.

Also impressive is that Marvel has finally created a villain that is more than just a McGuffin for its heroes to fight against. Two, in fact. Andy Serkis' return as Ulysses Klaue is welcome simply for his insanity, but a long running complaint with the MCU is that its villains are often short-shrifted. Not so for Jordan's Killmonger, who has a fully-fleshed out backstory, pulls off a surprising plot twist, and just does more than we've come to expect from Marvel's villains in general. It helps that for the most part he's not some CGI monster hell bent on destroying the world, but instead an actual actor with a personal story, and compelling motivations for his actions. It's the more successful execution of what Marvel tried to do with its villain in Civil War, and is a great palate cleanser for the upcoming entry of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War.

All this isn't to say that Black Panther doesn't get comic-bookey. There are moments in this movie that could only be pulled from the pages of a comic series established in the 1970s. At one point, giant rhinos charge into the middle of a battle for warriors to ride on, and you ?can't help but rem??ember that this is a film involving a magical purple flower that gives a man super powers. That's not a bad thing at all.

These are comic book movies, and they should feel like that. It, in fact, helps Coogler balance out the personal/political sides of the film. Black Panther is a comic book film at its core, and that is nothing but a compliment.  If you're for some reason worried about "social issues" getting into your comic book movie (despite the fact they'v??e been part of comic books since their inception), don't worry, you can still go in and check out if you so choose. 

Black Panther isn't a perfect film, but it's definitely a different one. If you're not ready for its relatively slower pacing it can feel almost jarring in the way it approaches comic book movies. In this vein its action can feel stilted, but everything else about it makes up for any shortcomings. It is a culturally significant film, that is about to disprove about 100 million different assumptions that Hollywood holds dear. We all know why Black Panther is groundbreaking, but it's good to know that it?'s also just a damn good movie.  

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Wakanda ticket sales still at 0 for some reason

Black Panther is supposedly Marvel's next risky film in the vein that Guardians of the Galaxy was risky. It's a smaller-known character taking the lead, the first black hero lead, an almost entirely black cast, a director on his first blockbuster (Creed was basically an i?ndie), and a plot line that doesn't involve their heavy hitters in any meaningful way. These are all things that Hollywood and Marvel deem risky whether they truly are or not. But it looks like that "risk" is paying off as Fandango is reporting that the film, which is being dumped into the February doldrums to maybe give it an excuse if it flops, has sold more ticket pre-orders than any other Marvel film. 

I can tell you personally I haven't been this hyped for a Marvel film in a while, and it's not just because Kendrick Lamar is curating the entire soundtrack. It's exactly the fact that it does seem different and risky for Marvel that I'm excited. Much like Guardians it looks li??ke something new is going to come from this one, and I can't wait to see what it?? is. Whatever the outcome I can guarantee this: it will dominate any February box office opening that has ever come before. 

??‘Black Panther??’ Becomes Fandango’s Top Early Pre-Seller Among Marvel Movies [Variety]

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'Sorry I had a fight in the middle of your Black Panther party'

By the success of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the looks of Thor: Ragnarok, and this latest trailer for Black Panther, it seems Marvel is learning from their past mistakes and allowi??ng their direc??tors a bit more wiggle room within their tight structure. At the very least, the voices presented now are more diverse than in MCU past.

I hope Ryan Coogler's (Fruitvale Station, Creed) afro-??futuristic Wakanda hits all the right notes with viewers. This trailer does share some standard MCU beats, ??but the overall package is just so fresh and interesting it could potentially alleviate the superhero burnout a lot of folks are going through now. 

Coogler's a director who I?'ll see any project from, that Black Panther suit is cool as hell, and this cast is stacked with the likes of Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan., Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, and the Queen, Angela Bassett. It's a must see in my book. 

Black Panther hits theaters February 16, 2018. 

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Seriously watch it right now

We got a brief look at Black Panther last night during game 4 of the NBA Finals and to sum it up, it looks amazing. Set in the technologically advanced but secluded African nation of Wakanda, Black Panther will tell the?? story of King?? T'Challa's return to his nation after the events of Civil War and the struggles he will face to retain his throne.

The movie will star an ensemble ??cast of actors with Chadwick Boseman leading the way returning for the role of T'Challa, with supporting roles from Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis. Ryan Coogler will direct with a script co-written by him and Joe Robert Cole. Unfortunately the movie won't be out until February 16th next year so use whatever coping mechanism you have for the long wait.

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