A New Kind of Black Superhero in History of Movie

We have never seen a black superhero movie quite like “Black Panther.”

While previous films like “Spawn,” the “Blade” series and “Hancock” have experienced box office success, the origins of the characters had a similar theme. In “Spawn,” the protagonist was dead before the devil transformed him into a superhero. His special powers thus came from hell. In the “Blade” movies, the main character was half-vampire, that is, half-undead. His unique gifts were attributed to him partially being a monster. In “Hancock,” the protagonist was an alien. His exceptional traits were thus based on him being from another planet.

In “Black Panther,” however, the central figure, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), the king of the fictional, technologically advanced African country of Wakanda, is fully alive and fully human. This is admirable progress. After all, in the real world, the value of black lives in America, Haiti, African nations and elsewhere is still an unsettled matter. Furthermore, the Black Panther’s powers are not rooted in evil or race-neutral otherworldliness; his superhuman strength, speed and reflexes come from the Heart-Shaped Herb of his own African country. “Black Panther” highlights the possibilities of black power, something that still seems like a fantasy at times in the 21st century. 

Unlike the Black Panther, the black superheroes in earlier popular films enabled many fans like me to subconsciously take in the blackness on our screens without constantly thinking about what blackness meant in those movies or in our own lives. They were a way to avoid thinking about the specific slights at school and work, or police stops and fatal shootings. Simply put, they were a form of escapism.  

For some moviegoers, the previous black superhero movies were palatable because the protagonists were still safely the “other.” For example, Spawn and Blade seemed dangerous on the outside, but they still enabled viewers to stick to a tradition of associating blackness with darkness in the worst sense of the word. Hancock was powerful, but he was still a foreigner; he was a remarkable black person who did not truly belong in society. These superheroes entertained audiences, but they did not force moviegoers to expand their minds about black people. 

Black Panther’s powers are not rooted in evil or race-neutral otherworldliness; his superhuman strength, speed and reflexes come from his own African country.

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Originally Appeared on HuffPost