The so-hot-right-now Black Panther movie is many things.
The biggest box office opening for an African-American director? Check. The biggest February opening in history (sorry, Deadpool)? You bet. And as of today, Marvel’s Afrocentric blockbuster now holds the record for the biggest Monday of all time with $40.2 million, too.
But the accolades don’t end there for T’Challa, as Rotten Tomatoes has just crowned Ryan Coogler’s spinoff the greatest movie of all-time. Yes, that’s right, according to their Top 100 ranking, Marvel’s latest effort is now the best film ever, sitting pretty at #1, which puts it on top of classics like The Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, The Godfather and more. Now, given that this list is based on adjusted scores and only considers movies with 40 or more critic reviews, it’s obviously not the best representation of cinema’s greatest achievements, but at the time of writing, Black Panther holds the crown.
Regardless of whether or not things stay that way, T’Challa has fast become one of the MCU’s most important players, and the pic’s staggering performance at the box office will surely go on to inform the content (and order, perhaps?) of Marvel’s Phase 4. Remember, once Avengers 4 hits theaters, it’s all but certain that Marvel Studios will begin retiring some of its most iconic heroes – namely Iron Man, Captain America and Thor – in order to give way to the next generation of crusaders.
Black Panther is playing everywhere as of February 16th, with current estimates placing the film’s global total at $424 million, which indicates that the Ryan Coogler-directed feature is well on its way to becoming one of the most profitable releases in the history of Marvel Studios. And given their recent output, that’s really saying something.
