*UPDATE* Comingsoon notes a source within Marvel Studios who says Latino Review's story is total horse crap. Ok, those are my words, but they say the story isn't true. We'll see.....
As Marvel gears up for the next phase of their plan post-The Avengers, there's been a ton of speculation as to what new heroes will be introduced to make up part of the overall map. Marvel did things the right way by building up Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk before launching into The Avengers, and the results speak for themselves. Hello! #3 highest grossing movie of all-time! So it stands to reason that Marvel will follow a similar path as before, and part of that has to include establishing fresh characters from different corners. We've known that Marvel has two unannounced projects on the way, or so said Prez Kevin Feige...
Feige: "In a week and a half we start filming 'Iron Man 3'…by the end of the summer we'll be working on the next 'Thor' film, early next year the next 'Captain America' film. Those are the three that we've announced so far, but we've got two beyond that we haven't announced yet that we're working on."
Right, so what will one of those projects be? According to Latino Review, one of those will be Black Panther. This would be the next solo film to follow Captain America 2, and likely taking the May 16th 2014 release date they already have set aside. Mark Bailey was hired more than a year ago to get crackin' on a Black Panther script, and if the report is to be believe, it's apparently fantastic. Honestly, take every single bit of this with a grain of salt until there's an official announcement.
Black Panther is one of the most important, storied characters in the Marvel Universe. Black Panther is the title given to the king of the African nation of Wakanda, a land rich in a natural resource known as vibranium, a metal with unique energy absorption properties. Captain America's famous shield is made partially of vibranium. The holder of the Black Panther mantle is T'challa, and due to his homeland being constantly under attack for its resources, he's a slightly more suspicious, proactive character than most. A member of The Avengers for some time, it was revealed that he only joined in order to spy on the team to make sure they weren't a threat to Wakanda. In recent years he's been completely revamped, and is more like a globe spanning Batman character, with a nearly unmatched combat ability and a ton of special gadgets and weapons. He's also married to the X-man, Storm. We caught a tiny glimpse of Wakanda during Iron Man 2 on one of Tony Stark's digital maps, so Black Panther is a presence even if we haven't seen him yet. So taking this all at face value, who would you want to see play Black Panther? Wesley Snipes was attached to the role years ago, but clearly he's no longer an option. I'd say the top two picks would have to be Michael Jai White(Black Dynamite), for his obvious physicality and look. And the other would be Nate Parker(Red Tails), who can capture the suave side of the character quite nicely.
As Marvel reaches out to untapped markets, such as Iron Man 3 being filmed in China, a character like Black Panther clearly resonates with the urban demographic. It's a smart move, and would fulfill one of my long held hopes of seeing the character get the attention it deserves on the silver screen.
