Perhaps most thrilling, however, are the dazzling displays of unarmed martial arts combat, enhanced
by the vibranium suit of the Black Panther that absorbs energy and emphasizes the fluid motion of T'Challa, whether we are seeing Boseman himself or a digital double.
Andy Serkis appears in the flesh to reprise his role in the MCU as Ulysses Klaue, complete with a prosthetic hand cannon fueled
by vibranium and a gleeful penchant for violence.
How Klaue came
by that Vibranium is some history that «Black Panther» deals with.
Not exact matches
Shut off from the rest of the world, the leaders of Wakanda are united
by their newly - throned king, T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), who rules as the mythic «Black Panther,» a warrior with supernaturally improved reflexes, strength, agility and a tech - powered
vibranium suit.
Above all, this is a superbly acted movie, stolen without remorse
by Letitia Wright's work as Shuri, T'Challa's whip - smart sister, who outfits him with all of his
vibranium - enhanced tech.
And all powered
by the hidden element known as
vibranium, which supplies limitless energy, and is harnessed
by T'Challa in the armoured bodysuit he wears as Black Panther.
Created in 1966
by Stan Lee (script) and Jack Kirby (art), the original Black Panther — a hepcat in a slinky suit with claws and ears — debuted alongside the Fantastic Four in an adventure in Wakanda, which is powered
by a mystery metal,
vibranium.
His father N'Jobu facilitated the theft of
vibranium in an attempt to arm black people all over the world against their oppressors; N'Jobu is killed
by T'Challa's father T'Chaka for his insubordinate attempt to end the centuries of isolation that have kept Wakanda safe.
To stop Wakanda from being discovered
by the world, King T'Chaka murders his brother N'Jobu, a Wakandan spy seeking to arm oppressed African - Americans with
Vibranium - powered weapons after witnessing their plight up - close.
Armed with technology developed
by his super-scientist sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright), and accompanied
by his former lover, Nakia (Lupita Nyong» o), and the head of the military, Okoye (Danai Gurira), T'Challa travels to South Korea to capture an amoral mercenary named Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), who is selling
vibranium on the black market.
The world's most prosperous nation thanks to its resource in the virtuous metal
vibranium, the fictional kingdom has ingeniously managed to conceal its reality to the rest of the world
by posing as just another poor African country.
That image is a sham, however — an illusion maintained
by Wakanda's superior technology to hide the nation's true nature from those who would plunder its most valuable resource, the mineral
vibranium.
The small nation of Wakanda is a protected valley enclave in east Africa, hidden from outside eyes
by some very advanced technology fueled
by the alien metal
vibranium, which arrived via asteroid millennia ago.
At its heart, Black Panther has a fairly standard comic book sort of story: baddie Ulysses Klaue (a rare live - action Andy Serkis: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, War for the Planet of the Apes), one of the few outsiders who knows the secrets of Wakanda, and who had stolen a small quantity of
vibranium decades ago, is up to no good again, with a scary dude nicknamed Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan: Fantastic Four, and both of Coogler's previous films) at his side; they must be stopped
by T'Challa, Nakia, and the absolute force of nature General Okoye (Danai Gurira), with an assist from CIA agent Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Sherlock).
Hidden from the outside world, Wakanda is a technological wonder powered
by the alien mineral
vibranium - the same miraculous metal that Cap's shield is made of.
Ultron (voiced
by James Spader) threatens Klaue to get the arms dealer's
Vibranium.
Klaue relented and gave Ultron the
Vibranium, for which Ultron initially paid
by hacking financial records to plant money in Klaue's account.
A child that King T'Chaka had with another woman, Jakarra tries claiming his supposed birthright
by exposing himself to raw
Vibranium, mutating himself into a monstrous creature.
Many of the
vibranium - laced weapons we see are pointedly from times gone
by, forged in fires far removed from Shuri's lab.
«She's just someone who's very innovative, very open - minded, and wants to help push her country Wakanda forward
by using technology,» said Wright, «
by working with
vibranium in a way that can be able to protect them, and create weaponry — and also just to create devices that have never been seen before.
So it's ironic now that T'Challa's
vibranium grip is beginning to slip that we enter a month pretty well defined
by the lead - up to his next big - screen appearance, the game - changing Avengers: Infinity War.
Powered
by the mythical
vibranium that is found in the Black Panther universe, the concept car's design features several nods to the movie that inspired it.
In the films, Klaw is Ulysses Klaue, played
by Andy Serkis, and he first appeared in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, where he had his arm cut off
by Ultron while hunting for
vibranium.
But if you want to know the full history of Wakanda in the Marvel movies, here it is in a nutshell: precious Wakandan metal called
Vibranium (more on that in a second), stolen in the plot of Ultron, inspired Wakanda to go on an outreach mission to, at the very least, Nigeria
by the time of Civil War.
Black Panther's suit and Captain America's shield are both made of
Vibranium, and in addition,
Vibranium is what Ultron was collecting which ultimately made Vision (played
by Paul Bettany).
However, when T'Chaka kills N'Jobu for betraying Wakanda
by helping Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) steal
vibranium from the country, the King leaves a young Erik to fend for himself in Oakland, California.
By being technologically advanced it refutes common assumptions of Africans as savage, while the continued pillaging of his nations
vibranium parallels the European and American colonial theft of Africa's national resources.
Upon being crowned he must defend his nation — an isolated, technologically superior place that houses a secret stockpile of the powerful metal
vibranium — from an interloper played
by Michael B. Jordan.
T'Chaka was murdered
by the adventurer Ulysses Klaw in an attempt to seize the
vibranium mound.
As the Q to Black Panther's James Bond, it's Shuri who designs much of the next - gen technology that powers the isolated nation — including deadly weapons powered
by the Wakandan metal
vibranium that T'Challa must prevent from falling into the wrong hands.
Ruled
by the young king T'Challa, who possesses the ceremonial title, Black Panther, Wakanda thrives as a technologically advanced culture due in part to the extremely rare resource,
Vibranium, which is mined from a meteor that fell from space thousands of years ago.
He secures the throne in trial -
by - combat at a mythic waterfall, defeating M'Baku (Winston Duke), the chief of the Jabaris, the only tribe in the kingdom that shunned the use of
vibranium.
At the heart of the film is Wakanda, a technologically advanced African country hidden from the rest of the world behind an invisible cloaking shield, which is fueled
by a mineral unique to the region called
vibranium.
Vibranium could be establishing the Infinity Stone's presence in Wakanda, without ever calling it out
by name.
If the Infinity Stone and
vibranium go hand in hand, though, Coogler wouldn't need to include its presence in Black Panther;
by introducing
vibranium and the meteor as crucial elements of Wakanda's technology, he elegantly side - steps the necessity of addressing the Infinity Stone question.
A Wakandan
by birth, he has teamed up with Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) to steal a
vibranium artifact from a British museum — but he has his eyes set on a bigger prize than some ancient pickaxe.
That stylish introduction is immediately followed
by a flashback to Oakland in 1992, where a Wakandan spy embedded in American society is caught trading arms made of
Vibranium, the meteoric ore on which Wakanda built its superior new world.
T'Challa, who will be played
by Chadwick Boseman, is ruler of the fictional African country of Wakanda, a technologically advanced nation that is home to the nearly indestructible and highly valuable metal
Vibranium (the same metal Captain America's shield was forged from).
Wakanda is blessed with prosperity and technology, and untouched
by colonizing interlopers, thanks to the abundance of the valuable (and fictional) element
vibranium.
Act one ends with life as usual for Wakanda, but not before it's disrupted
by the re-appearance of an old Wakanda foe, who has been on the run after stealing
Vibranium, named Ulysses Klaue.
Some of the awesome applications of
vibranium were used in weapons, such as spears used
by the Dora Milaje (female bodyguards of the King of Wakanda) and bullets used
by agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and superhero Maverick.
Boseman would not confirm to us whether T'Challa will have drunk his magic brew to be imbued with superhuman powers
by the time we meet him in Civil War, but he will have a super suit woven with
vibranium — the same material used in Cap's shield.
(They both seemingly have magical weapons that might be able to pierce even
vibranium skin,
by the way.)
You might also recall Ulysses Klaw (Andy Serkis), the crude arms dealer that got his arm ripped off
by Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron, a side character that will somehow make his way into Black Panther as well, no doubt hunting that elusive
vibranium the country is known for.
Well, you should know
by now that Wakanda is the home of
Vibranium, a fictional metal that was used to create Captain America's shield, Black Panther's suit, The Vision's body, and so on.
N'Jobu is killed in 1992
by T'Chaka (John Kani), T'Challa's father, after N'Jobu sells
vibranium weapons and refuses to head back to Wakanda to stand trial.
By the fourth page of the preview,
vibranium (the industructable metal Wakanda is known for) miners, who the Black Panther considers the «heart» of his country, are trying to take him down.
«She's just someone who's very innovative, very open - minded, and wants to help push her country Wakanda forward
by using technology,» Wright said, «
by working with
vibranium in a way that can be able to protect them, and create weaponry — and also just to create devices that have never been seen before.
This takes the form of Michael B Jordan's Erik «Killmonger» Stevens, a vengeful Wakandan exile with his own eye on the throne, and Ulysses Klaue — pronounced claw — a brawny arms dealer played
by Andy Serkis who speaks in a spicy Afrikaner bark, and whose attentions are turned on the country's vast deposits of
vibranium, an indestructible metal that often comes in useful in films like this.