Black Panther hits $1bn at Global Box Office

Black Panther has officially passed the $1 billion dollar mark at the worldwide box office, a mere four weeks after it’s release.

The comic book adaptation stars Chadwick Boseman as King T’Challa, the beleagured leader of fictional kingdom Wakanda, alongside Luptia Nyong’o and Michael B Jordan.

It’s the fifth Marvel movie to hit the mark after The Avengers, Avengers: Ultron, Iron Man 3 and Captain America: Civil War.

Black Panther is also the 33rd film to join the $1 billion dollar club and the 16th Disney title to do so.

Black Panther is the first major superhero movie with a predominantly black cast and It’s not just good. It’s the best Marvel movie yet.

The Marvel movie has been acclaimed by fans and critics alike since its release last month, with the film recently achieving the rare honour of attaining a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Black Panther, unlike most films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, stands alone. It doesn’t play as a chapter in a larger saga but as its own contained story. You can show up without seeing any of the previous 17 MCU instalments and be completely fine. 

It takes place almost exclusively in the fictional African nation of Wakanda. To the outside world it looks to be a “country of farmers”, but it is in fact incredibly wealthy, thanks to an abundance of a super-metal called vibranium, which has allowed Wakanda to develop technology that far exceeds anything else on Earth. It keeps its success secret to avoid war with other nations and protect its way of life. 

Ruling over Wakanda is T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), who is given superpowers by a magic plant and bestowed the mantle of Black Panther. T’Challa’s reign looks potentially short-lived when an outsider (Michael B. Jordan) threatens to expose Wakanda’s truth.

Director/co-writer Ryan Coogler is the most talented filmmaker Marvel has hired, creating a film that’s as smart as it is energetic. In the same scene he can meld hilarious jokes, creative action and bold cultural commentary. He’s full-hearted in the film’s Afrocentricity, with astonishing production and costume design that pull from countless cultures, and some pointed political moments (when Jordan’s character is challenged in his attempt to steal Wakandan artefacts from a British museum, he asks how its ‘owners’ think the museum got them). It’s a joyful, chest-voice statement that there are other voices to be heard in blockbuster cinema and new worlds to be seen. This is a vitally important film and an absolute, watch-it-again-immediately blast.