BY DC CUEVA
A week ago last Friday night after two political conventions of completely polar opposites and as protests have erupted yet again in this country, we were saddened again by how cruel this year of 2020 has been. An upside to all of the madness that has been going on in this world has been of the now ubiquitous presence of the Black Lives Matter movement and increasing awareness of African-Americans and persons of color during this summer of upheaval both here at home and overseas.
Usually, summers like these would be where the box office and movieplexes everywhere would be jam packed every weekend as the biggest films and stars take over the big screen while the sun is baking outside. But the film industry, like other parts of the entertainment world, have been deeply affected by the global pandemic, and it has backtracked most of this year's most highly anticipated films until next year. That includes the big-name superhero movies that have become a global phenomenon in the past decade, led by the characters who make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The film blazed its way into theaters in February 2018 over a quarter-century after discussions of a possible film adaptation of the Black Panther comic was first discussed with Wesley Snipes many years before, but it never got beyond the planning phases. But it was later revived as part of the first wave of films developed by Marvel that would become the biggest and most lucrative movie franchise ever and solidifying the company's leadership in the comic book business.
The character itself made his movie debut in 2014's Captain America: Civil War with Chadwick Boseman playing that role before taking on the task of leading the first MCU film with a predominantly black cast and African-American director Ryan Coogler leading production efforts, and with it dropping during Black History Month. Black Panther made over $1.3 billion at the box office to place it among the top ten grossing films ever, was shortlisted by critics & organizations as among 2018's top movies, and won the franchise's first Academy Award.
This role was the crowning moment for Boseman, who also appeared in the final two installments of the Avengers movies, Infinity War and Endgame, following his Black Panther role that netted him a Screen Actors Guild Award and an NAACP Image Award. Having first studied directing at Howard University, the native South Carolinian then took to the front of the camera in numerous TV roles in regular and guesting roles before landing his breakthrough role playing the man who broke baseball's color barrier, Jackie Robinson, in 2013's 42. He also portrayed two other prominent figures in Black history, the "Godfather of Soul" James Brown and Supreme Court judge Thurgood Marshall, in two later bio-pics, along with playing an NFL prospect in Draft Day, and playing a cop in last year's 21 Bridges.
