Most of the movies confirmed to be coming out of Marvel Studios in the wake of "The Avengers" have been sequels for the already established characters. However, Marvel still has a vast collection of characters from which to pull.
There's been idle talk over the last few years about a number of different characters getting their own big screen adaptation. Now, Latino Review claims to have learned which new character is going to be getting its own solo film. The site claims to have verified through numerous trusted sources that Marvel is planning a film based around the hero known as the Black Panther.
Black Panther, also known as T'Challa, is the leader of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. His notable physical prowess is enhanced by the ingestion of a special herb. He's also incredibly smart, holding a Ph.D. in physics, and a noble figure. In the comic books he's one of the earliest members of the Avengers.
The news isn't a complete surprise, since The Hollywood Reporter learned earlier this year that screenwriter Mark Bailey was working on the project. It's a character that makes a great deal of sense to bring into Marvel's cinematic world, and in a way the groundwork already exists. Wakanda appeared on a map in "Iron Man 2" and Captain America's shield is made of vibranium, a rare mineral found only in Wakanda. So, the pieces are already in place for the introduction of the character to be fairly organic.
There will be some difficulties in bringing a character like this to the screen, however. The biggest one is probably going to be the scale of the film and the villain. At its most basic, "Black Panther" lends itself to an Indiana Jones-style jungle adventure. Something like that could be fun, but it could also come off as somewhat underwhelming given the more global scale the Marvel films have adopted at this point.
As for the villain, the Black Panther doesn't have a particularly strong rogue's gallery. His most noted foe, Ulysses Klaw, killed his father and manipulates sound waves as weapons. The character has been well-used in the comics over the years but it would be difficult to bring an antagonist like this to the screen and not have it just seem very lame. That said, once Black Panther has been established, he should make a great addition to the next "Avengers" movie.
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