What You Demand to Know Before Seeing Black Panther

Chadwick Boseman stars every bit Black Panther. Photograph: Zade Rosenthal/Marvel Amusement

All Marvel Cinematic Universe movies these days are blockbusters, but they don't usually feel like events. As excited as people may have been for The Avengers or Spider-Man: Homecoming or Thor: Ragnarok, none of those films were preemptively held upwardly as turning points for globe cinema. Black Panther, on the other manus, is a landmark: The first superhero movie with an almost entirely blackness cast, and one that doesn't shy abroad from difficult questions most race and nationality.

People take been going nuts for this picture for years at this signal, and so there'south a good chance that, even if you don't usually watch spandex flicks, you'll want to see whether it lives up to expectations. If you haven't viewed all of the 17 (!) preceding Marvel Cinematic Universe installments, or if you lot feel similar you've forgotten what you saw within them, y'all may feel intimidated by the prospect of going into this sucker. Fear not, boyfriend traveler: We'll get you up to speed on the blank essentials of what you demand to know about Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) earlier you enter the theater.

The MCU Background
Lucky for you, the Panther — real proper name T'Challa — has just appeared in a single movie prior to this 1: 2016's Captain America: Civil State of war. If y'all picket that, y'all should be fine. What, yous don't take two hours and 45 minutes to spare? Fine, we'll go through the parts that are relevant for Black Panther. Ceremonious War follows a squad of super-soldiers known as the Avengers and centers around a feud between their leaders, Tony Stark/Fe Homo (Robert Downey Jr.) and Steve Rogers/Helm America (Chris Evans), that splits the squadron in half.

During a fight against super-terrorists in Lagos, Nigeria, the Avengers inadvertently crusade the deaths of some civilians, including 11 citizens of Wakanda. That's a key term to remember, every bit it's the fictional African country that T'Challa comes from. Information technology'due south located in East Africa, right near the intersection of existent-life Uganda and Kenya. It's known to the world equally a reclusive, third-globe backwater with a wealthy monarchy — only that's just the image the Wakandans want to spread to the world. In reality, they're secretly a technologically advanced civilization the likes of which cannot exist seen anywhere in the world, existent or fictional. The rest of the planet only thinks they're a source of a rare material called vibranium.

Meet T'Challa, T'Chaka, and Klaue
After the lethal blow in Lagos, Wakandan rex T'Chaka (John Kani) appears before the U.N. and condemns not only the terrorists, but likewise the Avengers. The governments of the world come together to draft the Sokovia Accords, an agreement that would put the Avengers under the control of an international console. The Avengers wring their hands over what to do: Iron Homo thinks the accords are a decent idea, Captain America opposes them, and the diverse team members fall on either side. They bide their time, uncertain of their future.

A U.N. meeting is held in Vienna to ratify the accords. It is at that place that we meet handsome T'Challa, son of T'Chaka and prince of Wakanda. He converses with one of the pro-accord Avengers, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and tells her he approves of the accords, simply doesn't like the bureaucratic politics of the U.N.: "Two people in a room tin can get more done than a hundred," equally he puts information technology. T'Chaka joins their conversation, accepts Natasha'south apologies for Lagos, and expresses frustration that Captain America wouldn't come up to the meeting. She walks abroad and T'Chaka and T'Challa accept a sweet moment where the elder tells the younger that he'due south good at diplomacy and tenderly touches his son'due south face.

Moments later, T'Chaka briefly reminds the assemblage of an occurrence from the previous Avengers movie, 2015'south Avengers: Age of Ultron. In that flick, we met sinister arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), who will testify up in Black Panther. In Age of Ultron, Klaue sold stolen vibranium (how he managed to become it from Wakanda wasn't explained) to an evil robot named Ultron. The ii of them got into a fight in which Klaue lost an arm and ran away. Ultron used the vibranium as office of his villainous plot and, at Civil War's U.N. gathering, T'Chaka says the Wakandans regret their mineral's inadvertent role in evildoing.

RIP T'Chaka
T'Chaka saw the Ultron incident as a wake-up call near the need to practise skilful in the world, and plans to have Wakanda out of the shadows and make information technology more of a office of the world community. Merely every bit T'Chaka is telling the audience that Wakanda is proud to extend its hand in peace, a flop blows upwardly the building and kills him. T'Challa cradles his male parent'southward dead trunk and weeps. The constabulary doubtable the culprit is Captain America's friend and former partner, a super-soldier named Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Bucky was a brainwashed assassinator for decades and is trying to overcome his programming, but the earth at big still thinks of him as a criminal — and T'Challa is inclined to concord.

T'Challa Hunts
Subsequently the bombing, T'Challa and Natasha converse again. He holds his father's ring and tells Nat that, in his culture, "expiry is not the terminate. It'south more of a stepping-off indicate." He talks about the Wakandan gods (derived from ancient Egyptian organized religion) Bast and Sekhmet. Nat says Bucky volition be tracked down by the regime, but T'Challa gets upwards and walks away, saying, "I'll kill him myself." He finds Bucky in Bucharest a piddling while afterward and, clad in a high-tech black costume, fights the runaway accused terrorist with aplomb. Cap shows upwardly during the fight in society to save Bucky from the Panther (whose identity he as of and so doesn't know). The authorities bear witness upward, stop the fight, abort everyone, and the Panther unmasks to reveal himself as T'Challa.

While riding in an armored car with Cap, T'Challa says the drapery of the Blackness Panther has been held to protect Wakanda for generations. He says he'due south been the Black Panther for a while, only with T'Chaka dead, he now has to be the rex of Wakanda, too. At a secure facility, anybody meets authorities operative Everett Yard. Ross (Martin Freeman), who's helping to lead the task forcefulness that ensnares rogue superhumans. T'Challa is given an office instead of a cell, but told to stay cooperative. Bucky breaks out and everyone chases after him, including T'Challa, just he gets away.

The Big Fight and Its Backwash
Somewhen, all the Avengers, pro- and anti-accord alike, find themselves at an airport in Leipzig, and T'Challa shows up to fight on the pro side. They all tussle for a while, merely Cap and Bucky once again escape T'Challa's claws. He and Atomic number 26 Man track the pair downward in Siberia and go afterwards them yet again. However, they presently find out that the bombing was done by a man named Zemo (Daniel Brühl), who schemed to plough all the heroes confronting one another. T'Challa confronts Zemo on a cliff and they have a calm talk near how vengeance can make people do terrible things. In that moment, T'Challa realizes he needs to let go of his vendetta against Bucky, especially given that he now knows the latter didn't kill T'Chaka. He prevents Zemo from committing suicide and carts him off to prison.

However, he's not entirely on the side of law and order. Cap and Bucky are notwithstanding fugitives, and T'Challa helps them escape to Wakanda, where he puts Bucky into an induced coma until a cure can be found for his mind control. "Your friend and my begetter," he tells Cap, "they were both victims. If I can assistance one of them find peace …" Cap tells T'Challa, "Y'know, if they notice out he's here, they'll come for him." T'Challa says, "Let them try" while he gazes at a statue of a … black panther. Y'know, like the movie he's about to exist in. And now you're set to hop into your tightest catsuit and slink into the cineplex like the jungle cat you know you lot really are.

What Y'all Need to Know Earlier Seeing Black Panther