Black Panther, A Fan Favorite

Unlike the previous Doctor Strange article, I will not go into the Black Panther's rich backstory but I have in an article before that I will link below. Instead, on this article I will explain how Black Panther makes sense as a film in the third phase of Marvel's cinematic universe and who should be cast as well as what villains they could pull from. Already within the universe that they have set, Black Panther has been eluded to a few times making it easy to make a movie around him. In Iron Man 2, when Tony was meeting with Fury on the screens behind the two the home of Wakanda was highlighted. Wakanda is the kingdom that Black Panther rules. In Captain America, his shield was made out of pure vibranium which is a resource that can only be found in Wakanda. It is likely that operatives of S.H.I.E.L.D. had made contact in Wakanda and secured some of the valuable resource. It is also heavily rumored that Ultron will be made from the vibranium found in Wakanda, as well as the first act of Avengers 2 taking place in South Africa nearby Black Panther's home.

Chiwetel Ejiofor has been attached to the role or rumored to it for some time due to his likeness and ability to capture the character. Now, he is an Academy Award nominated actor so his price may rise, but not a crazy amount. It just adds to his star meaning more people would be more likely to see his film. Ejiofor is earnest, confident and has a strong presence to himself which bodes well for the part while the character can also be very untrusting of outsiders due to his fear that they may want Wakanda. This fear or weariness of outsiders can once again be portrayed beautifully by Ejiofor, if you need proof, and granted the material is much different but 12 Years A Slave shows just how gifted an actor he is with great range to hit all the right notes of the character. However, it is ultimately up to him if he wants it and with his connection to Joss Whedon, the two worked on Serenity together when Ejiofor was first coming up as an actor, I could see him taking the role.

This casting rumor is a bit of a wild card that gained traction after his performance as Jackie Robinson in last year's 42. Boseman could for sure be tabbed to play a younger more world weary Black Panther who would be a good foil to Captain America. Boseman is also younger and not as well known making it more likely that he could be the Prince of Wakanda and play the role for an extended period of time. Ultimately, that is after all what Marvel will want to do seeing how much they learned from constructing contracts after Robert Downey Jr's initial contract had terminated.

To me, I honestly believe Ulysses Klaw makes the most sense as the immediate villain to Black Panther. In the comics, Klaw was hired as an assassin to kill T'Chaka, T'Challa's (Black Panther) father, who had been the king of Wakanda for an extended period. After murdering T'Chaka, Klaw escaped from Wakanda only to go into hiding and in this time T'Challa rose to power as the king of Wakanda and as the Black Panther to help protect those who look to harm his city. Black Panther charged after Klaw and defeated him in battle starting a rivalry between the two. In a film this storyline could work well, especially if they make Klaw an assassin for HYDRA who tasked him to murder the king of Wakanda and acquire their famous vibranium for some nefarious means. This of course would put HYDRA on Black Panther's radar which inevitably would lead him to the Avengers. Klaw also works as he was also a major villain for Ant-Man.