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Phase Three of The Marvel Cinematic Universe is arguably its best work yet, with every single new installment being met with critical and box office success. A ton of new heroes were introduced during the last slate of movies, chief among them being Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther. Ryan Coogler's Black Panther broke box office records and even earned seven Oscar nominations, kickstarting a new franchise in the process. The movie's poster featured the stellar cast that Coogler assembled, and it was recently given a gorgeous classic comic book re-imagining.
The cast of Black Panther was one of the most stacked ensembles from any Marvel movie, including the likes of Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, and Get Out's Daniel Kaluuya. The movie's sleek modern design brought Wakanda to life, and now we can see what Black Panther would look like with the characters in classic comic book appearances. Check it out below.
I just... can't look away. The Marvel Cinematic Universe consistently finds ways to make its characters feel both colorful and realistic, with costumes that have been tweaked from the source material. And this modernization for Black Panther has never never so obvious as when you're looking at characters like Okoye and Shuri in their comic book form. Let's break down what we're being shown here.
This stunning poster comes to us from the social media of artist John Black. He clearly has an interest in comic book movies, and has made a habit out of re-making Marvel Cinematic Universe posters with classic comic visuals. He recently gave the same treatment to the poster for Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, to fantastic results. And in the above image we can see how some fan favorite MCU's characters got their debut on the page.
Marvel fans can re-watch Black Panther's time in the MCU on Disney+. You can use this link for a free 7-day trial to the streaming service.
The fan art is an exact remake of Black Panther's theatrical poster, just given a retro touch. While poster remakes for The Avengers featured the iconic costumes of characters like Iron Man and Hawkeye, Black Panther's supporting characters aren't quite as well-known and iconic. As such, seeing their comic book appearance is fascinating, and will hopefully inspire a few fans to pick up some Black Panther comics.
Perhaps the most striking visual is of Letitia Wright's Shuri. The fan favorite character is a technological genius within the MCU, but she's also taken to battle a few times throughout Phase Three. While the live-action Shuri fights using her signature gauntlets, she's actually become a Black Panther in her own right on the comics. This is a plot line that fans are hoping occurs in the MCU, possibly in Black Panther's mysterious sequel.
One character that came out pretty comic book accurate is Angela Bassett's Queen Ramonda. The iconic actress' costumes in Black Panther closely resembled her character's appearance on the page, and in this remake of the movie's poster. She wore a similar headdress, but also had a less formal appearance during Killmonger's time taking over Wakanda.
It should be interesting to see where the Black Panther franchise goes next, following the wild events of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Following the epic Battle of Wakanda, both T'Challa and Shuri were reduced to dust as a result of Thanos' snap. It's unclear how the country managed to govern itself during the five-year time jump, considering the rituals that are required in Wakandan culture. The first Black Panther was very much focused on who was in power at Wakanda, and The Snap presumably made this even more complicated.
The next installment in the MCU is Black Widow on November 6th. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
