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Trivia / Black Panther (2018)

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  • Ability over Appearance: Michael B. Jordan is 6'0"note  tall compared to the 6'6"note  height of Killmonger in the comics while also lacking the brutish physique of his comics counterpart. However, Jordan was cast because of his performances in Fruitvale Station and Creed.
  • Actor-Inspired Element: Angela Bassett came up with the idea of M'Baku barking at Everett Ross when he tries to interject on her family's behalf. Ryan Coogler noted that there wasn't much going on in the scene, and that her observations and suggestion made the scene better.
  • Acting in the Dark: As per usual with Marvel's movies, not every cast member was given a full script for the film. Denzel Whitaker (young Zuri), for example, had no idea that the Oakland flashback was two parts, with T'Chaka killing N'Jobu being shown in Act Two, until he actually saw the film.
  • All-Star Cast: With Chadwick Boseman as the lead, you have Lupita Nyong'o, Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Michael B. Jordan, Martin Freeman, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Daniel Kaluuya, John Kani, Sterling K. Brown, and Andy Serkis. Plus a cameo from Sebastian Stan.
  • Approval of God: Christopher Priest, widely considered the definitive writer for Black Panther and whose run the film draws heavily on, did a very glowing review of the film.
  • Author's Saving Throw: Michael B. Jordan claimed that he saw this movie as a way for making up to Marvel fans who were disappointed by Fantastic Four, which he starred in.note  Given the sheer amount of acclaim he got for this movie, suffice to say that his apology was graciously accepted.
  • Awesome, Dear Boy:
    • Even when diagnosed with colon cancer in 2016, Chadwick Boseman was highly enthusiastic about playing T'Challa, and knew the character would become an important icon to black audiences.
    • Michael B. Jordan took the part because he wanted to play a ruthless villain, as he was getting tired of playing charming Nice Guys in all his movies.
  • California Doubling: Atlanta and its suburbs stood in for most of the international locations in the movie, such as London or South Korea, as well as the scenes in Oakland.
  • Celebrity Voice Actor:
    • In the Japanese dub, Shuri is voiced by Kanako Momota, the lead singer of Momoiro Clover Z.
    • In the original cast, people only started noticing months after the fact that the AI of Shuri's control system (that Ross uses to destroy the transports) is voiced by Trevor Noah.
  • Creator Backlash:
    • In an interview after the movie's release, director Ryan Coogler regretted that he had to kill off Klaue. Although Coogler personally enjoyed the character, he couldn't find any way to keep him in without derailing the film's plot.
    • VFX artist Todd Sheridan Perry shared many viewers' distaste for the final battle between T'Challa and Killmonger, explaining that a decision made by Marvel Studios at the last minute caused a bigger workload for him and other artists to properly finish the visuals in time.
  • Creator's Favorite: As detailed in his novel "The Ride of a Lifetime", Disney CEO Bob Iger is most proud of this film out of any of the films he's greenlit, as despite receiving pushback from Disney executives and then-chairman of Marvel Entertainment Ike Perlmutter regarding a black-led superhero film doing well at the box office, the movie broke several records and was a cultural phenomenon far beyond what he could have imagined.
  • Dawson Casting: Shuri is supposed to be 16, but Letitia Wright was 24 during filming.
  • Deleted Scene: See here.
  • Dyeing for Your Art: Chadwick Boseman got quite the Heroic Build... even if the year before he was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer, meaning his body was not helping (specially considering how aggressive the treatment is).
  • Edited for Syndication: When the film aired on ABC on August 30, 2020 as a tribute to Chadwick Boseman, the scene near the beginning where Shuri flips T'Challa off was cut due to standards on broadcast networks being much, much stricter than on cable.
  • Enforced Method Acting: Michael B. Jordan chose to stay off-set until he was filming his scenes and isolated himself in his personal life, in order to make the hostility and unfamiliarity the other characters feel toward Erik feel more authentic. Jordan would later reveal that this took a huge toll on his mental health to the point that he needed therapy to readjust to being around people once more.
  • Executive Meddling: If you're wondering why it took so long to get a Black Panther movie, blame Ike Perlmutter — Kevin Feige wanted one (as well as Captain Marvel) much earlier, but Perlmutter refused, allegedly due to believing that a movie with a lead that wasn't a white male wouldn't sell (a belief that rings hollow not only due to the success of Wonder Woman, but also when you consider the success of Blade Trilogy), and only agreed to make the movie after Kevin Feige agreed to make an Inhumans movie. After Feige was put in a position that doesn't require him to answer to Perlmutter, the Inhumans movie got put on ice (and reworked into a short-lived show), and Black Panther and Captain Marvel both got pushed up.
  • Fake American: The very British Martin Freeman plays American Everett Ross.
  • Fake Nationality:
    • A given, considering Wakanda is a fictional country, albeit one clearly placed in a real world region going by the shot of the map in Civil War (it's cut out of bits of southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya). Most of the Wakandans were played by African-American actors (namely Chadwick Boseman, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Winston Duke,note  Sterling K. Brown, and Danai Guriranote ) while Daniel Kaluuya is British Ugandan,note  Florence Kasumba is German Ugandan,note  John Kani is South African, and Letitia Wright is British Black Guyanese. Mexican born American raised Kenyan Lupita Nyong'o is the only main actress to actually be from the region. Arguably counts as Race Lift as well, since African-Americans and Black Caribbeans are descended primarily from west and central Africans, who differ significantly in terms of genetics from east Africans.
    • Andy Serkis, who is a Brit of Iraqi-Armenian descent, is playing an Afrikaner, an ethnic group primarily descended from the Dutch.
  • I Am Not Spock: Several of the cast members, including Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan, became tired of the constant requests to do the Wakandan salute. It got to point where Jordan mentioned that he never does the salute in the movie and later joked while accepting an MTV award that Chadwick had told him to tell the crowd to stop asking him to do it.
  • In Memoriam:
    • In the weekend following Boseman's passing, ABC altered their Sunday (August 30) evening programming for the film that was prefaced with five minutes of behind-the-scenes footage of Boseman's MCU career that ended with "You Will Always Be Our King". Following the film, a program hosted by Robin Roberts aired, Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King.
    • On November 29 2020, what would have been Boseman's 44th birthday, the Marvel Studios logo for this filmnote  was changed from the usual clips of various Marvel characters and previous MCU movies to film clips and artwork of Boseman and T'Challa/Black Panther, similar to how they changed the studio logo in Captain Marvel (2019) for Stan Lee.
  • Inspiration for the Work: Coogler's work on this film was influenced by the works of Francis Ford Coppola in the 1970s, as well as that of crime fiction. He also watched the film A Prophet for inspiration.
  • Irony as She Is Cast:
  • Life Imitates Art: The royal costume of T'Challa worn when he was sitting in his throne looks a lot like baju koko (a type of shirt predominantly worn by Muslims) and thus inspired Indonesian designs of baju koko which can be found in online shops across Indonesia.
  • Meaningful Release Date: The film was the first MCU release in the month of February, which, in the United States, happens to be Black History Month.
  • Meme Acknowledgement: Wright foresaw how popular Shuri's "WHAT ARE THOOOSE?" scene was going to be and joked that she is currently making sure her sneaker game is on point to avoid the line being used against her.
  • Missing Trailer Scene: Ross saying he's never seen anything like Wakanda with nods to other MCU entries is not in the final film.
  • Multiple Languages, Same Voice Actor: Florence Kasumba dubs herself in the German dub.
  • The Other Darrin: In the European French dub, Saïd Amadis replaced Captain America: Civil War's Med Hondo as King T'Chaka.
  • Pet Fad Starter: The film is attributed to causing a boost in black cat adoptions.
  • Playing Against Type:
    • This is Jordan's first villain role, a marked contrast from his last major superhero movie, where he played the Human Torch. It can also be seen as Playing with Character Type in his case, given that many of his character's mannerisms are villainous spins on the same traits that he's had in other roles.
    • In terms of directing, this is the first time that Coogler has handled a big-budget superhero movie. Prior to Black Panther, Coogler's work (Fruitvale Station and Creed) have been lower-budget, realistic films.
  • Production Posse:
    • Jordan, who starred in Coogler's previous two films, plays the villain here.
    • Coogler has also brought on Rachel Morrison as cinematographer (who previously worked on Fruitvale), Ludwig Goransson as composer and Michael P. Shawver and Claudia Castello as editors (all of whom previously worked on Fruitvale and Creed).
  • Real-Life Relative:
    • John Kani (who plays old King T'Chaka) and Atandwa Kani (younger King T'Chaka) are father and son, respectively.
    • Juan Antonio Edwards (the Latin American voice for Everett K. Ross) and Erica Edwards (the LA voice for the museum director) are father and daughter, respectively. Juan's ex-son-in-law (and Erica's cousin), Arturo Mercado Jr., voices N'Jobu.
    • Funny enough, this is averted for older Zuri (Forest Whitaker) and younger Zuri (Denzel Whitaker). Though they share the same last name and similar physical appearance (right down to Forest's notorious lazy eye), these two actors are not related... but it is eerie just how much they resemble one another.
  • Reality Subtext:
    • The Black Panther party, a Black nationalist organization that boldly asserted its right to bear arms, originated in Oakland, CA. The film opens in Oakland, with N'Jobu forming a Black nationalist organization and building an arsenal of Wakandan weaponry.note 
    • More than one article has been written on how Agent Ross provides a model of "allyship," a social-justice term for someone trying to help a minority fight against oppression despite not being a member of said minority. A lot of allies, both in fiction and in Real Life, end up acting as though It's All About Me. Ross, on the other hand, is willing to listen about the things he doesn't know; keeps and stays out of tradition not meant for him or circumstances he isn't useful in; takes orders from the Wakandans without hesitation; uses his skills and privilege (combat piloting) where they tell him they need it; and doesn't demand praise or accolades afterwards (in fact, after his thread of the Final Battle is wrapped up, he just plain disappears until The Stinger).
  • The Red Stapler: Several African clothing retailers saw sales significantly increase after the film was released, thanks to fans wanting to buy clothes similar to what the characters wear.
  • Saved from Development Hell: Wesley Snipes began campaigning for a Black Panther film in 1992, and even after he was cast in the Blade Trilogy, the project was still in various stages of production throughout most of The '90s and the Turn of the Millennium. Avi Arad announced a Black Panther movie as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe way back in 2005, but nothing came of it until late 2014.
  • Separated-at-Birth Casting: Denzel Whitaker (the younger Zuri) looks a lot like Forest Whitaker (Zuri in the present day). Unlike the T'Chaka actors above, they are unrelated despite the same surnames.
  • Short Run in Peru: The film was released a bit sooner in other countries than its February 16 American date. Notably, February 14 in France.
  • Star-Making Role:
    • Wright and Duke (but the former mostly) are considered as the film's breakout stars (the rest of the cast are already well-known and established). This is, however, regarded as the role that solidified Boseman as a major star.
    • The same happens in the Japanese dub, as it was the first leading role for the voice actor of the titular protagonist, Makoto Tamura, alongside Tatsumi Leonard Aragaki.
  • Troubled Production: Shooting on the Warrior Falls set turned into a bit of a nightmare due to the water reflecting both sunlight and on-set lights much more intensely than anticipated. This led to nearly every actor experiencing vision problems on the first day, with Daniel Kaluuya even being rushed to hospital with sunburns on his eyes. To deal with this, actors would put on sunglasses as soon as each take was completed while crew rushed onto set to cover the water with a tarp to prevent reflections while things were being reset.
  • Uncredited Role: Sebastian Stan is uncredited for his cameo as Bucky Barnes in the post-credits scene.
  • Underage Casting: Michael B. Jordan was born in 1987, but Killmonger's younger Time-Shifted Actor during 1992 is clearly middle school aged, meaning Killmonger is older than Jordan by at least three years.
  • Voice-Only Cameo: Trevor Noah gives his voice to "Griot", Shuri's AI system which is only really heard through the battle.
  • Wag the Director: Boseman ended up having a lot of say in how Wakanda would be presented in the film, and a lot of his contributions from participating in auditions to critiquing drafts of the script (an early draft had Killmonger asked to be buried in Wakanda but Boseman's suggestion of something different led to the iconic line about "death being better than bondage") ended up in what we got in the final product.
  • What Could Have Been:
    • Chad L. Coleman, John Boyega and Noel Clarke were considered for the role of T'Challa before the casting of Chadwick Boseman.
    • Sterling K. Brown, Mustafa Shakir and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II auditioned for the role of M'Baku before Winston Duke was cast. Brown would later go on to play N'Jobu in the film, while Shakir and Mateen II would portray Bushmaster and Simon Williams in Luke Cage and Wonder Man respectively.
    • Amandla Stenberg and Dominique Thorne auditioned for the part of Shuri before the casting of Letitia Wright. Stenberg dropped out from the project because she recognized that a darker-skinned actress would be more appropriate.. Thorne would eventually play Riri Williams in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
    • Ernie Hudson was considered for the role of T'Chaka before John Kani was cast, but was turned down as the character wasn't considered big enough for him.
    • Ava DuVernay, Antoine Fuqua and F. Gary Gray were approached to direct the film before Ryan Coogler was hired. DuVernay turned it down because she wasn't comfortable with not having total creative control, while Gray declined in order to helm The Fate of the Furious. Gray was previously considered to direct Captain America: The Winter Soldier before The Russo Brothers were hired.
    • Nabiyah Be announced on Twitter that she was playing Tilda Johnson/Nightshade in the film. Just one month later, however, Gabrielle Dennis was cast as Nightshade in Luke Cage, and Be's tweet was deleted. In the film itself, Be's character is credited as "Linda".
    • Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole toyed around with the idea of introducing Patriot from the Young Avengers, but ultimately felt it would distract from the main story.
    • Coogler also wished to add Spider-Man villain Kraven the Hunter to the movie, though due to legal issues regarding the deal with Sony, he couldn't feature him.
    • The concept art reveals that at some point, Shuri was going to have made her own Black Panther suit.
    • The initial assembly cut of the film (which is in no way to be considered a watchable version despite the implications by media outlets reporting on it) was four hours long.note  The final cut is 2h 15m. Regardless, even in more completed versions of the film, a lot of material ended up of the cutting room floor before final release, including some stuff that Coogler really wanted to keep (four of which did end up on the DVD release):
    • Namor the Sub-Mariner was planned to be introduced in one of the film's credit scenes, but it had to be scrapped due to Marvel having not reclaimed the rights to the character yet. Namor would eventually appear as the main antagonist for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
    • The four deleted DVD scenes that were all said to have been cut due to issues related to pacing:
      • Chronologically, the first was a scene that would've taken place early in the film, featuring a young T'Challa and Nakia playing in the catacombs near the temple of the heart-shaped herb garden, where they find T'Chaka mulling over his actions earlier that evening regarding his brother N'Jobu.
      • The next scene would've occurred after T'Challa's first visit to the Ancestral Plane and reuniting with his father there. Following the ceremony, T'Challa and Zuri have a quiet conversation where they reminisce about T'Chaka.
      • The third (and seemingly the fan favorite, even by Coogler himself) scene occurs after Killmonger's first meeting as king with the tribal council, featuring Okoye and W'Kabi arguing about their different perspectives on the coup and Killmonger's plans for the country.
      • The final scene would've been a preamble to T'Challa's mid-credits speech at the United Nations, where he meets with Everett Ross who warns against revealing Wakanda's true nature to the world for the first time.
      • There was also a flirtatious interaction between Okoye and Ayo during T'Challa's coronation ceremony that was shot and shown to media reporters alongside other footage early in production at an exclusive press event, but was ultimately cut from the film without any stated reason.
    • Originally, the Jabari tribe’s Big Damn Heroes moment in the climax involved only male Jabari warriors rescuing Shuri, Nakia, and the Dora Milaje. When editor Debbie Berman pointed out that this does not fit the established portrayal of the female characters, Ryan Coogler shot scenes with a female Jabari warrior being the first to break through the Border Tribe’s shields.
  • Word of God:
    • Director Coogler confirmed that Killmonger's mother died in prison and the plan that N'Jobu and Zuri talk about at the start of the movie is a plan to break her out.
    • Coogler explained that Donald Glover is to blame for Shuri's "WHAT ARE THOOOOSE?!" line, as Glover was given the script to critique.
    • Jordan claims that Killmonger's "battle vest" wasn't an intentional Vegeta reference, but he and Coogler are both anime fans, which would explain where the image came from.

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