Wakanda is alive with the sound of war.
As Marvel prepares to give the go-ahead for Black Panther‘s reviews – February 6th is the date for your diaries, with the first long-form critiques expected online around 12 pm ET – the folks over at ComicBookMovie.com have relayed a boatload of high-definition stills for the buzzworthy blockbuster. And after months spent profiling T’Challa, the rightful heir to the throne, the Powers That Be have shifted the spotlight over to Black Panther‘s supporting players, of which there are quite a few.
Case in point: Erik Killmonger and his malevolent goons, W’Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya) and M’Baku (Winston Duke), who stakes his own claim for the throne soon after the tragic death of T’Chaka at the hands of the Winter Soldier. Both antagonists can be found in the gallery below, while there are also new looks at Ramonda (Angela Bassett), grieving mother to the up-and-coming T’Challa, and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), who hails from the fearsome task force known as the Dora Milaje and is best described as a “war dog…an undercover spy for Wakanda. Her job is to go out into the world and report back on what’s going on.” Blimey!
See for yourself:
Elsewhere, you’ll catch another look at Okoye (Danai Gurira) and Nakia embarking on a top-secret mission (perhaps it has something to do with Black Panther‘s sequence in South Korea?), while W’Kabi appears to be the false ally of Ryan Coogler’s standalone pic.
It’s been an awful long time coming – too long, perhaps – but Marvel Studios is finally ready to lift the lid on its first mainstream black superhero movie. If Blade blazed a path for comic book films back in ’98, then Black Panther is about to up the ante quite considerably. And it’ll officially leave its mark on the MCU come February 16th.
