Christopher Priest talks about Black Panther

[Drz]

Newsarama has had a 3 part interview with Marvel Knight's Black Panther writer and on the 3rd part he talks about the movie.

Nrama: The Black Panther’s due to get major exposure with the upcoming movie, and I was curious as to your thoughts on that film, and Chadwick Boseman’s casting as T’Challa.


Priest: I saw Get On Up about a dozen times. I went every day. Every single day, I was standing outside when the movie theatre opened and bought my ticket. The theatre was usually empty. I live in a town that wasn’t eager or very interested in a James Brown biopic, but I couldn’t stop watching Boseman.


I’m old enough to remember seeing James Brown live. Other than Boseman being too tall and skinnier than the real thing, his performance was utterly mesmerizing--and just as likely ignored because, honestly, James Brown never crossed over the way Ray Charles did, so Get On Up worked a more narrow vein of the American public than did Jamie Foxx’s brilliant Ray.
I’m less concerned about Boseman’s acting ability than I am about Marvel’s understanding of the African American public and just how important a film this will be to us. In conversations with the Black Panther movie folk (and, it’s worth noting the exec in charge of the Panther film is African American), I was left somewhat less at ease with their general approach that Panther will be essentially just another super-hero movie.
They know how to do these things, now, and nobody does super-hero films better, but I’m worried about a certain level of hubris accompanying their approach to Panther.


I hope Marvel understands this: all of black America is watching you. We are hopeful, we are excited. Don’t screw this up. Talk to some actual black people; it’s not enough to “know” Panther; you’ve got to know Panther’s audience.


It is also a mistake to not intrinsically understand how strong this racism thing is and how racism will--I assure you--impact this film’s reception. The problem with most liberals--myself included--is we tend to think we’re post-racial, that we’ve got a handle on things because we’re not racists.
Which is what makes liberals perhaps some of the most pernicious racists of all, because we are in denial of it. Make a good movie, and people will come see it. Well, Get On Up was an extremely entertaining film with an amazing, practically one-man performance by Chadwick Boseman. But I was sitting in the theatre alone.


Memo to Marvel: Hubris and arrogance re: Panther will kill you. This is not like any other movie you’ve ever done. If done correctly, this can not only be a great super-hero movie, but it could be an important film. I’m not on the inside, so I can just pray they’re not just trying to make a good movie but that they are trying to develop some sensitivity to the unique challenges their marketing will face. If they are tone deaf to those issues, it won’t matter how good the film is; there will remain a thread of resistance on the part of general audiences to seeing any film with a black actor at the center.

I thought it was interesting enough to be shared, I didn't see any general discussion topic so thought i'd just make a thread for it.

I do hope Black Panther alongside Aquaman will be different superhero movies where we see them as foreign nation leaders, suspicious of America and making hard decisions for the benefit of their nations.

 

[eon001]

Marvel’s understanding of the African American public

I'm more concerned about Marvels understanding of African culture considering the movie is set in Africa.
African Americans have probably the same amount of understanding of Africa, as the average white guy. How offended could African Americans possibly be if they no nothing about the culture?

I hope Marvel understands this: all of black America is watching you.

Again I would be more concerned about Africa's opinions. I enjoyed Sense8 but I found a review from a Kenyan that felt insulted by the depiction of African segments. I'm worried Black Panther it will be an exaggeration of African culture. [YT]2LfV0gXejcw[/YT]

 

[eon001]

Just to put my comments in context. This is what I see when in regards to African Americans understanding of Africans:

They smell, Jamie Foxx -
[YT]HJLRXkFzxDg[/YT]

Horrible Food -

[YT]VAZYitaxbw0[/YT]

Yes I know this is played mostly for comedy, but how close this is to non Africans real opinions?

I'm a first generation Nigerian living in the UK. Raised as a Brit, but I still have strong culturally connection to Africa. These kinds of vids terrify me when I think about how mis represented Africa could be in the Marvel U. It could be horrific or they could over compensate by making Africans look like a continent of "Magical negroes". At this point I would be more confident with a white South African director like Neill Blomkamp or Gavin Hood, than I would with F.Gary Grey or Antoine Fuqua. Ideally I would opt for and African director, because at the very least they can be a safety net for the movies credibility. In a perfect would that shouldn't matter, but this isn't a perfect world. If the movie bombed under the helm of a white non African director, I'll bet his ethnicity will be the first thing that gets blamed. Sad but true.

 

[TyBig]

Well thank god Wakanda is a fictional country

 

[eon001]

Well thank god Wakanda is a fictional country

lol Yea no doubt. That's going to be an safe way to explain inconsistent accents or characteristics. Wouldn't matter if Wakandans had Kenyan, Nigerian, Ghanaian, South African etc accents as it's a fantasy country.
It just made me laugh that Priest is worried about appeasing African Americans when there opinion isn't any more valuable then any other American.
I would understand if Priest was talking about Luke Cage, who is a black guy from New York. I'm sure he would be horrified if he was portrayed as Carlton Banks lol.

 

[Nokio]

lol Yea no doubt. That's going to be an safe way to explain inconsistent accents or characteristics. Wouldn't matter if Wakandans had Kenyan, Nigerian, Ghanaian, South African etc accents as it's a fantasy country.
It just made me laugh that Priest is worried about appeasing African Americans when there opinion isn't any more valuable then any other American.
I would understand if Priest was talking about Luke Cage, who is a black guy from New York. I'm sure he would be horrified if he was portrayed as Carlton Banks lol.

Priest is a smart man, I assume he meant that African Americans want a good film and a hero to be proud of since the cool heroes with good films are white guys. Priest has to know that nothing from American culture should seep into Wakandian culture. I hope Marvel crafts a new culture for the Wakandians. They must.

 

[Nokio]

While I like Boseman I'm still not sold on him at all as BP. This guy has been the lead in two films and not many people was interested. He's not a box office draw maybe. The man is a supporting actor despite his talent. He's not leading man material, like Tom Hiddleson, another good actor but not leading man material. I really wish Marvel had tested other actors, even unknowns. Boseman will do a good job but i don't think he can carry an entire film where its dependant on him to draw in the audience. He's won't have Transformers or Dinosaurs from Jurrassic World who are the draw.

 

[Guard82]

While I like Boseman I'm still not sold on him at all as BP. This guy has been the lead in two films and not many people was interested. He's not a box office draw maybe. The man is a supporting actor despite his talent. He's not leading man material, like Tom Hiddleson, another good actor but not leading man material. I really wish Marvel had tested other actors, even unknowns. Boseman will do a good job but i don't think he can carry an entire film where its dependant on him to draw in the audience. He's won't have Transformers or Dinosaurs from Jurrassic World who are the draw.

Transformers?! Dinosaurs?! Who needs that when you're T'Challa?! He's got the one thing they haven't got -- he's the friggin' Black Panther!

 

[Nokio]

Transformers?! Dinosaurs?! Who needs that when you're T'Challa?! He's got the one thing they haven't got -- he's the friggin' Black Panther!

And I totally agree 100% but dude you are preaching to the choir. The people who make and break these films are the general audience. Black Panther means nothing to them because most have no idea who he is. Boseman just isn't a interesting box office draw. Average looking dude that is a good actor. He's meh to me. He supporting actor at best and can be a lead in a blockbuster if the selling point is giant robots or Dinos as an example.

 

[Moridin]

Marvel have never gone after "Box Office Draws" for their leads though.

Evans was most well known for being one of 4 main characters in 2 not very well known or liked CBMs.
Hemsworth was Kirk's dad from the first few minutes of Star Trek.
Pratt was "that chubby goofball from that niche sitcom".
Ruffalo & Johansson had both been around forever in smaller films and were critical darlings, neither were blockbuster draws.
Holland was basically unknown

RDJ, Norton & Rudd were probably the best known of the leads.

Rudd was a draw for comedies, not blockbusters, but even so his biggest films before Ant Man usually featured him in supporting roles.

Norton was well known but TIH was still by far the biggest grossing film he had.

RDJ was well known for the mostly the wrong reasons, certainly wasn't a "bankable" action hero.



TL;DR
Bosemans name recognition doesn't matter because Marvel are in the business of minting their own A-Listers. They look for who they think will do the character justice, not "draws".

 

[AndrewGilkison]

And I totally agree 100% but dude you are preaching to the choir. The people who make and break these films are the general audience. Black Panther means nothing to them because most have no idea who he is. Boseman just isn't a interesting box office draw. Average looking dude that is a good actor. He's meh to me. He supporting actor at best and can be a lead in a blockbuster if the selling point is giant robots or Dinos as an example.

Did it occur to you that maybe Marvel is more interested in finding the right actor for Black Panther that can do justice to playing the character than in finding a "name"?

"Names" don't matter anymore anyway. It's all franchises now. And Marvel is established as a franchise, which is why they are more comfortable bringing in these new heroes into phase 3 than in phase 1 when they were building everything to the first Avengers movie.

 

[TyBig]

And I totally agree 100% but dude you are preaching to the choir. The people who make and break these films are the general audience. Black Panther means nothing to them because most have no idea who he is. Boseman just isn't a interesting box office draw. Average looking dude that is a good actor. He's meh to me. He supporting actor at best and can be a lead in a blockbuster if the selling point is giant robots or Dinos as an example.

Did you see Get on Up or 42?

He played the lead great in those and he was pretty much the hottest rising black actor when Marvel scooped him.

 

[Nokio]

Did you see Get on Up or 42?

He played the lead great in those and he was pretty much the hottest rising black actor when Marvel scooped him.

Yeah i saw them and he did quite well.

Hottest Black Actor?? I guess

 

[Gr0oT]

While I like Boseman I'm still not sold on him at all as BP. This guy has been the lead in two films and not many people was interested. He's not a box office draw maybe. The man is a supporting actor despite his talent. He's not leading man material, like Tom Hiddleson, another good actor but not leading man material. I really wish Marvel had tested other actors, even unknowns. Boseman will do a good job but i don't think he can carry an entire film where its dependant on him to draw in the audience. He's won't have Transformers or Dinosaurs from Jurrassic World who are the draw.

Too bad we didn't get someone with a big personality like Will Smith for BP.

But really I think you are off the mark with your assumption, same as people who doubted Chris Pratt, Paul Rudd and basically any of the homerun leading men choices Marvel Studios has made.

 

[Dr. Evil]

I thought Boseman was the right choice. I wanted Chiwetel Ejiofor, but apparently Marvel had another role for him in mind when they cast Boseman and we do not know if David Oyelowo has any interest in the Superhero genre. John Boyega is too young and is pre-occupied with another major franchise.

They will surround him with big name stars. They have done this with a lot of the MCU movies. Captain America The First Avenger had Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaving (who most people know from the Matrix and LOTR). The Thor films had Renee Russo and Anthony Hopkins. Captain America The Winter Soldier had SLJ and Robert Redford. The Iron Man films had Mickey Rourke, Ben Kingsley and Jeff Bridges. Ant Man has Michael Douglas. Guardians of the Galaxy had Glenn Close and John C. Reilly.

This is what they will do with Black Panther. They will surround Boseman with more known names. Let's say Monica Lynne is the love interest in the movie and they also include Shuri. What's to stop Marvel from going after names like Kerry Washington, Gabrielle Union, Taraji P. Henson, Lupita Nyong'o, Meagan Good or Sanaa Lathan for either of those roles? Nothing. In fact, I have long favored Henson, Washington and Lupita for roles in the MCU, whether it be in Black Panther or in something else.

Sadly, I think the ages of Lathan, Union and Henson would probably limit them in the MCU.

 

[Nokio]

I thought Boseman was the right choice. I wanted Chiwetel Ejiofor, but apparently Marvel had another role for him in mind when they cast Boseman and we do not know if David Oyelowo has any interest in the Superhero genre. John Boyega is too young and is pre-occupied with another major franchise.

They will surround him with big name stars. They have done this with a lot of the MCU movies. Captain America The First Avenger had Tommy Lee Jones and Hugo Weaving (who most people know from the Matrix and LOTR). The Thor films had Renee Russo and Anthony Hopkins. Captain America The Winter Soldier had SLJ and Robert Redford. The Iron Man films had Mickey Rourke, Ben Kingsley and Jeff Bridges. Ant Man has Michael Douglas. Guardians of the Galaxy had Glenn Close and John C. Reilly.

This is what they will do with Black Panther. They will surround Boseman with more known names. Let's say Monica Lynne is the love interest in the movie and they also include Shuri. What's to stop Marvel from going after names like Kerry Washington, Gabrielle Union, Taraji P. Henson, Lupita Nyong'o, Meagan Good or Sanaa Lathan for either of those roles? Nothing. In fact, I have long favored Henson, Washington and Lupita for roles in the MCU, whether it be in Black Panther or in something else.

Sadly, I think the ages of Lathan, Union and Henson would probably limit them in the MCU.

Noted

 

[Slick]

Volume 1 comes in Thursday. I Can't wait to dig into this run.

 

[Wylie Times]

I'm more concerned about Marvels understanding of African culture considering the movie is set in Africa.
African Americans have probably the same amount of understanding of Africa, as the average white guy. How offended could African Americans possibly be if they no nothing about the culture?

I think you're missing the point of Priest's comments.

He's not talking about people being offended if Wakanda doesn't fall in line with actual "African" culture. He's speaking more about how positive and powerful the portrayal of T'Challa will be in comparison to the other characters in the MCU.

In the case of War Machine and Falcon both characters are liked well enough, but it's made abundantly clear that they're "sidekicks" and not as capable as the heroes they work with. Black filmgoers notice these things.

Again I would be more concerned about Africa's opinions. I enjoyed Sense8 but I found a review from a Kenyan that felt insulted by the depiction of African segments. I'm worried Black Panther it will be an exaggeration of African culture. [YT]2LfV0gXejcw[/YT]

There is no "African" culture.

Africa is a huge continent that has many nations which have even more cultures within those nations. Wakanda isn't an actual place so it's not going to represent any specific culture.

 

[eon001]

There is no "African" culture.

Africa is a huge continent that has many nations which have even more cultures within those nations. Wakanda isn't an actual place so it's not going to represent any specific culture.

I'm African myself. I was oversimplifying things for the sake of making my point easier. That being said, there is a cultural umbrella that all Africans live under. The average American is not going to know the difference between, a Kenyan, Nigerian, Ivory Coastian, Ghanaian etc. Where all the same to them and that's a generalization that we all have to deal with, among other things.

I hope the Black Panther movie touches on this. How does a super advanced nation feel being lumped in with continent of people associated with great poverty? Do they have a sense of shame, embarrassment, guilt? Maybe they just don't care at all. Either way, I hope they don't just ignore it.

 

[bubbadoom]

While I like Boseman I'm still not sold on him at all as BP. This guy has been the lead in two films and not many people was interested. He's not a box office draw maybe. The man is a supporting actor despite his talent. He's not leading man material, like Tom Hiddleson, another good actor but not leading man material. I really wish Marvel had tested other actors, even unknowns. Boseman will do a good job but i don't think he can carry an entire film where its dependant on him to draw in the audience. He's won't have Transformers or Dinosaurs from Jurrassic World who are the draw.

Of course the roles of Thor and Captain America were not given to box office draws, and the actor chose for Iron Man was almost box office poison at the time he was cast, so I would not worry too much about the casting of the Black Panther - as with their other choices, he is a good actor and that's what counts.

 

[bubbadoom]

Again I would be more concerned about Africa's opinions. I enjoyed Sense8 but I found a review from a Kenyan that felt insulted by the depiction of African segments. I'm worried Black Panther it will be an exaggeration of African culture.

I certainly hope so - it is a super high tech nation - perhaps the most advanced in the world - sounds like an exaggeration of any culture...

 

[Wylie Times]

I'm African myself. I was oversimplifying things for the sake of making my point easier. That being said, there is a cultural umbrella that all Africans live under. The average American is not going to know the difference between, a Kenyan, Nigerian, Ivory Coastian, Ghanaian etc. Where all the same to them and that's a generalization that we all have to deal with, among other things.

I hope the Black Panther movie touches on this. How does a super advanced nation feel being lumped in with continent of people associated with great poverty? Do they have a sense of shame, embarrassment, guilt? Maybe they just don't care at all. Either way, I hope they don't just ignore it.

Generally in the comics Wakanda is shown as being slightly Xenophobic. They sort of look at the rest of the world as children. They'll get involved with things only so much as it helps keep their nation safe. T'Challa is actually the first Wakandan ruler to make the nation a part of the global community and take steps to help neighboring nations. A the start of Priests run T'Challa allowed refugees from another nation to come and stay on the outskirts of Wakanda and his people were pissed at him for it.

 

[Wylie Times]

I certainly hope so - it is a super high tech nation - perhaps the most advanced in the world - sounds like an exaggeration of any culture...

It's shown as Technological advanced, but it's also usually shown to have an visual aesthetic that's less western. In the comics the look varies and usually draws inspiration from a number of cultures to try and make something familiar but unique.

 

[eon001]

I certainly hope so - it is a super high tech nation - perhaps the most advanced in the world - sounds like an exaggeration of any culture...

I think you misunderstood me. I don't want a stereotyped exaggeration of African people. Wakanda is a fantasy country but it's part of a real continent. They have some freedom to create a unique society but there still needs to be some attention to detail.

 

[The Wakandan]

I hope the Black Panther movie touches on this. How does a super advanced nation feel being lumped in with continent of people associated with great poverty? Do they have a sense of shame, embarrassment, guilt? Maybe they just don't care at all. Either way, I hope they don't just ignore it.

I see no reason for the Wakandans to feel either shame, guilt, or embarrassment for their situation vis-a-via the rest of the continent. Due to various reasons, Wakanda avoided being colonized while continuing to develop. Meanwhile, due to other various reasons, the other ethnic groups / tribes / kingdoms in the continent succumbed to colonization. It's what it is.

With Wakanda opening up a bit, I can see the country working with other African nations on various issues, especially with its neighbors.

Where I do agree is that Marvel has to remember that the Wakandans are indeed African. Different from others in the continent? Yes. But there should be some similarities (besides accents) in terms of culture and overall demeanor that most Africans tend to have. It can be subtle in some cases, but most Africans recognize it pretty quickly.

I'm African as well, btw.