After damn near stealing the show in Captain America: Civil War, it’s not hard to believe that legions of moviegoers are ready to lay down money for tickets to T’Challa’s first solo flick. Because aside from astonishing us with stellar visual effects and sweet costumes, the excitement that comes along with meeting the various supporting characters who inhabit Black Panther‘s corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is sure to be part of the fun.
Speaking of which, one guy we’ll become acquainted with is someone who’s making a bid for having the coolest name in a 2018 superhero movie, that being Erik Killmonger. Set to be played by Michael B. Jordan, we have a gut feeling that he’ll be the latest actor to join the likes of Chris Evans, Ryan Reynolds and Ben Affleck when it comes to finding comic book movie redemption. As you may recall, he previously appeared in 2015’s Fant-four-stic, I mean, Fantastic Four, which proved to be a box office bomb.
This time, though, Jordan will get to flex his acting muscles a bit more, as he told Empire – yes, the very same publication that rolled out that gorgeous Black Panther-themed cover – the following:
“It took me to a dark place. Honestly, I can’t really go through all I went through to get into it because I want to keep that close to me. But it stuck with me afterwards.”
Truth be told, that sounds entirely believable. When one slips into the skin of an antagonist, it’s hard not to shake that mindset for a while. On the plus side, he “had a lot of fun on set,” and very much relished the opportunity to work with co-star Chadwick Boseman:
“Chadwick’s a very talented dude. There’s a lot of physical moments and action sequences throughout this film that cause us to really challenge ourselves, and also fall deeper into character.”
Black Panther opens in theaters on February 16, 2018. In the meantime, be sure to check out some new images in the gallery above.
