FILM · 2018 · USA
Black Panther
- Directed by
- Ryan Coogler
- Runtime
- 135 min
- Studio
- Marvel Studios
318 archived facts 8 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Sep 2026
King T'Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country's new leader. However, T'Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne by factions within his own country as well as without. Using powers reserved to Wakandan kings, T'Challa assumes the Black Panther mantle to join with ex-girlfriend Nakia, the queen-mother, his princess-kid sister…
Summary: TMDB
Black Panther: 34 Facts About the Characters and Cast
- #011
Black Panther was created in July 1966, two months before the founding of the Black Panther Party. Many people mistakenly assumed the name referred to the Party, so the character's name was changed to Black Leopard. However, neither readers nor the creators cared for this title and it did not last long. Still, the name Black Leopard pays homage to the war paint in T'Challa's struggle for the throne.
- #016
The younger version of Forest Whitaker's character Zuri is played by Denzel Whitaker. Although they share the same surname, they are not related. Both appeared in The Great Debaters (2007), in which they played father and son (the film starred Denzel Washington, after whom Denzel Whitaker was named). Forest Whitaker's son Ocean Whitaker was born the same year as Denzel Whitaker.
- #017
Lead actors Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke, who play the rival characters Nakia and M'Baku, were also students at the Yale School of Drama (Nyong'o was Class of '12 and Duke was Class of '13). They watched Avengers (2012) together when it was released and were so impressed that they said they hoped to get the chance to appear in a similar film one day. In fact, Duke would later return as M'Baku in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the sequel to Avengers. Nyong'o and Duke went on to appear together as husband and wife in Us (2019).
- #054
Black Panther was the first Marvel character whose film rights returned to Marvel. The character had previously belonged to Artisan Entertainment and Columbia Pictures, and Marvel regained the rights in 2005. Reportedly, because former Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter believed this film and Captain Marvel (2019) would not be profitable, it still took 13 years for the character to appear on screen. Following allegations of racism (Perlmutter was reported to have recast the role of Colonel Rhoades in Iron Man 2 (2010) with the comment "all black actors look the same"), Kevin Feige replaced Perlmutter as Marvel's supervisor in 2015 and immediately put Black Panther into development. Perlmutter was fired by Disney in 2023 during Robert A. Iger's restructuring of the company.
- #070
Angela Bassett took special training from Corey Calliet for the role of Queen Ramonda. Calliet created high-intensity interval training circuits for Bassett focused on the lower body as "the fastest and the most effective way to burn fat": mountain climbers, jump squats, lunges, push-ups and high knees, 30 seconds of work, 30 seconds of rest, and up to an hour each time.
- #076
Michael B. Jordan first auditioned for the role of Sam Wilson/The Falcon in 2013, three years before taking a role in this film. The role went to Anthony Mackie, who also appeared in Triple 9 (2016), in which Jordan also appeared.
- #080
Chadwick Boseman, who played the film's lead character Black Panther / T'Challa, died of cancer on Friday, 28 August 2020, becoming the first lead actor in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film to pass away. His death also means he was the first actor to portray an Avenger in the MCU to die.
- #098
Mount Bashenga is where the vibranium reserves are stored, and Shuri's laboratory, the site of the Wakanda Design Group, is production designer Hannah Beachler's favorite set. Shuri, played by Letitia Wright, is said to be the smartest person in Wakanda and the smartest person in the Marvel Universe.
- #099
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Djimon Hounsou and Anthony Mackie were considered for the role of T'Challa. All three would go on to play other characters in Marvel films: Agbaje was Algrim/Kurse in Thor: The Dark World (2013). Hounsou was Korath in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Captain Marvel (2019). Mackie was Sam Wilson/Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and the Disney+ show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021).
- #100
In the 2015 London production of Danai Gurira's 2009 play Eclipsed, Letitia Wright played the lead role, known only as "The Girl." When the play opened on Broadway in 2016, Lupita Nyong'o played "The Girl."
- #117
Contains a major spoiler — show
In the script, Erik had one more line before dying: "It's beautiful, but what are you going to do for everybody in the world who can't see this?" The UN post-credits scene was originally planned as the film's ending and would have followed immediately after. Co-editor Michael P. Shawver, however, said the line caused problems and had to be removed because it did not fit the character. To solve this, the current Oakland ending, which concludes with T'Challa's decision to launch a Wakanda outreach program, was added as a bookend to the cut line Killmonger says to him and in spirit. Ryan Coogler and Shawver looked at a top 10 list of the best film endings and found that the closing scene of The Godfather (1972) came closest to the problem of properly closing the film.
- #118
John Singleton was at one point involved in directing a film version of the character and envisioned Chiwetel Ejiofor for the lead role. Ejiofor went on to play Mordo in Doctor Strange (2016), also part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- #141
"Wakanda" was not a Marvel invention. In the first Tarzan film starring Johnny Weissmuller, Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), a group of a large tribal people is referred to as "the Wakandans."
- #145
For the role of Queen Ramonda, Angela Bassett wore a special wig made of 120 pieces of hair that were literally rolled and hand-turned into multiple dreadlocks.
- #151
Agent Everett Ross, played by Martin Freeman, first appeared in Captain America: Civil War (2016) while trying to track down the Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes.
- #152
Black Panther is the only MCU film in which a younger actor was used at the beginning of the film; Denzel Whitaker was cast instead of a de-aged Forest Whitaker. Previously, characters had been de-aged for past scenes in every MCU film.
- #160
With Michael B. Jordan joining the cast, the three most prominent actors from Creed (2015), also directed by Ryan Coogler, all play Marvel characters: Sylvester Stallone in Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 (2017), Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok (2017), and Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger in this film.
- #166
Amandla Stenberg auditioned for Shuri but dropped out because she felt she was not right for it.
- #171
Ayo, played by Florence Kasumba, is the second-in-command of the Dora Milaje and appears in Captain America: Civil War (2016) as T'Challa's head of security, where she tells Black Widow, "Move. Or you will be moved."
- #178
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II auditioned for the role of M'Baku. He would later play Black Manta in Aquaman (2018).
- #183
Zuri, played by Forest Whitaker, wears face paint inspired by shamans and warriors in Papua New Guinea.
- #230
(About 9 minutes) When we first meet Nakia, played by Lupita Nyong'o, she is hiding in plain sight, which raises the idea of espionage in which Wakandans cannot be distinguished from other people on the continent.
- #241
Wesley Snipes was a Black Panther fan and explains: "I think he spoke to me because he was noble and was the antithesis of the stereotypes presented and portrayed about Africans, African history and Africa's great kingdoms." He first announced in 1992 that he planned to produce and star in a film adaptation, and Mario Van Peebles and John Singleton were approached to direct. Snipes developed the project for more than a decade, but it never came to fruition due to creative differences, technical limitations and confusion among some that the film was about the Black Panther Party.
- #247
British actress Michaela Coel, who plays Aneka in the sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), failed an audition for a role in this original feature film.
- #253
Raw Leiba was considered for the role of Erik Killmonger.
- #276
Chadwick Boseman and Lupita Nyong'o auditioned for roles in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) — Boseman for the role of Drax and Nyong'o for the role of Gamora.
- #277
Michael James Shaw auditioned to play M'Baku and the next day auditioned to play Corvus Glaive in Avengers: Infinity War (2018). He was offered both roles and initially preferred M'Baku because he wanted to visit Africa, but ultimately decided to play Glaive.
- #278
Michael B. Jordan wanted to fully immerse himself in the role of Killmonger, so while preparing he "isolated" himself from his family and "didn't really speak" to them. He explained: "Erik didn't really know love. I don't think Erik experienced that. There were so many betrayals, so many failed systems around him that shaped him, his anger and his frustration." Jordan admitted he was so committed to his role that he had difficulty coming out of it after filming was completed. He said: "After the film, it stayed with me for a while. I went to therapy, I talked about it, I found a way to relax a bit. And I think at that point I was still learning that I needed to relieve the stress of a character. Acting is often a lonely journey. Auditioning alone, practicing alone. There's so much preparation, experience and journey. So as I went along I learned, 'Oh man, I still have a little something on me, I need to get rid of it.' You know, talking is really important."
- #297
Chadwick Boseman did not audition for the role of T'Challa / Black Panther; he instead discussed with Marvel what he wanted to do with the part, and he earned $2 million for appearing in Black Panther.
- #298
Chadwick Boseman was set to first portray T'Challa / Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War (2016) before Black Panther.
- #303
Feige said Black Panther would be the first Marvel Studios production with a primarily African-American cast.
- #304
Lupita Nyong'o entered negotiations to play T'Challa's love interest in Black Panther, while Michael B. Jordan joined in an undisclosed role after working with Coogler on Fruitvale Station and Creed.
- #305
At San Diego Comic-Con 2016, Lupita Nyong'o was confirmed for Black Panther as Nakia, Michael B. Jordan's role was revealed as Erik Killmonger, and Danai Gurira was announced as Okoye.
- #307
Casting for Black Panther continued from September 2016 until filming started, with Winston Duke cast as M'Baku, Forest Whitaker as Zuri, Daniel Kaluuya as W'Kabi, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Sterling K. Brown as N'Jobu, and Letitia Wright in a role later revealed as Shuri.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- Wikipedia Black Panther (film) — Wikipedia
- IMDb IMDb
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