Birnin Zana
Honorary Wakandan
Speak on it
Oh? Do tell
I'll elaborate a bit. I obviously can be completely wrong and I'm obviously not an industry insider. Just speculation on my part.
One potential issue this film may have, imo, revolves around something @teacher and @lutha brought up.
African country>>>>white world gonna be like that's to much suspension of disbelief
as for this movie:
as much as I think this is a cool character and marvel will always get props from me for pushing him as hard as they did initially(1st major black comic hero), i've held my excitement back for this movie...just have this feeling they not really gonna let the movie be as pro-black/dominated as it should be...think they gonna add in some white savior to save him at the end.....hope they prove me wrong...anyway, chad killed the scenes he was in, was able to pull off panther, so that's a good start....gonna have to wait and see...
To start, the BP solo will not be "pro-black" in the way we usually think. It's made by Disney and is expected to be consumed by a global audience. I doubt they will go that angle.
What we can hope for is for T'Challa, his supporting cast, and Wakanda to be on top of their game through and through. The movie doesn't have to go too far on ideology, but so long as they are shown in a very competent light and ultimately winning throughout the film, then that alone will be empowering in its own right.
With that said, concerning a white savior and suspension of disbelief from the audience, or lack there of. That is def something to think about. Wakanda being in Africa AND historically isolated means the country is basically all-black. Unlike many Hollywood movies set in Africa or with a majority black cast, there is no white savior. Wakandans handle their business and handle it very well, whether it is via T'Challa, his support cast (the Doras, Shuri, W'Kabi, Zuri, Taku, S'Yan, and Ramonda), and even the Wakandan people as a whole and Wakanda as a country.
Thus, its possible that some of the production team of the BP solo may want to find a way to have a competent white character in the film, that isn't antagonistic against T'Challa but doesn't take away from him or much of the supporting cast. One possibility could be White Wolf, a white man raised in Wakanda who is very competent at what he does, but he has an antagonistic relationship with T'Challa (not to mention he's mad jealous and low key crazy imo). Another is Everett Ross (who was in Cap: Civil War) but he's neither a warrior or a very-high ranking diplomat and ultimately serves as mostly comic relief. One could use a previous MCU character (Cap, Bucky, etc), but they should be as cameos imo, as that could take away from T'Challa and def WILL take away from his supporting cast.
Which brings me to another potential issue: the supporting cast. As I said in another thread before: liking T'Challa is very easy. He is a King who--by Wakandan standards--is quite progressive, highly intelligent, physically strong, and is quite principled. There's a lot to like.
The real question is how will the mainstream feel about the supporting cast? Already, T'Challa's supporting cast is all black, outside of Ross and White Wolf (who often serves as villain in the BP-verse). Family appears to be a major factor in the BP solo so they, along with T'Challa, will have a lot of screen time in the film. Several of his inner circle have an antagonistic view of outsiders. Some have even clashed with T'Challa over that issue, and in many cases for good reason.
Will the mainstream be cool with black characters openly being hostile to foreigners (and white characters in particular), even if they have legit reasons to be hostile? How will they feel if T'Challa sides with them, or even takes a stance that pits him against the West in some way, shape, or form? How will they feel about the villain--Klaw in this case--being potentially a villain with no sympathetic angle that could get defeat / murked without T'Challa going through some "Pyrrhic victory" shyt?
Overall its going to be a tough balancing act. On one hand, you want to be as faithful to the comics as possible. On the other hand, you want the mainstream to be as committed to the BP franchise as possible. Then there are flat out storytelling possibilities to consider that may require lots of tweaking. But then you don't want to chump T'Challa or his supporting cast along the way.
I had more in my mind, but I lost my train of thought. I'll mention them once I'll remember them.