Saw it last night. Great Movie and legitimately better than 90% of the Marvel Movies. They hype of the movie scared me but id infact say that much of what I liked about the movie was understated.
As far as the MCU. Id rank it solidly as MINIMUM #2 behind Winter Solider (content wise I enjoyed BP more, but the actions scenes in TWS were immaculately done).
I wont go into praising the cinematography, set/costume design, and score (all of which was collectively the best the MCU has put out) as I feel you guys went into better detail than I.
The aspects of the movie ld like to highlight are:
1. The Worldbuilding: Starting the movie with a very simple but visually appealing telling of the origin of Wakanda/The Black Panther mantle set the tone for the movie. Though out the length of the feature, BP relies solely on the lore and mythology of the BP universe to support the narrative. Not only does this keep the film fresh and distinct, its also impressive considering that BP is an a larger shared universe. BP refreshingly felt independent from the MCU and the fact that it stands up on its own makes the MCU that much more of an expansive universe.
2. Juggling the large cast: Everyone in the movie is given a distinct personality, a purpose, and a moment to shine. Everyone. I especially loved Andy Serkis as he seemed to be enjoying every minute of being Klaw and M'Baku was, IMO, the breakout character of the movie. This pales significantly from say the "Thor" franchise who has no fukkin idea what to do with the rest of the Asgardians (and they just wind up as wallpaper in most of their appearances). Finding a defined role for each of the actors was a testament of love from the creative team and probably why they all have shown so much solidarity/unity with one another in their public appearances promoting the movie.
3. The central conflict: My initial fear about Black Panther was that his conflict is too similar to Iron Man's and Thors. He's the prince of a far away kingdom (ala Thor) and a huge part of his conflict is protecting his "kingdom" (ala Stark). However, the creative team did a really excellent job on focusing on "the weight of the crown" and making T'Challas conflict multi layered. He dealt with internal and external threats. He dealt with self doubt. He dealt with the existential threat of revealing Wakandas existence to the world.
Thankfully the Inhumans flopped and theres no Sub mariner in the MCU, meaning T'Challa can hold a monopoly on the court intrigue themes.