It’s been a good week for new movie trailers. First, The Last Jedi and now, the second exciting preview of Marvel’s next big cinematic release of The Black Panther. And similar to its Star Wars cousin, this new trailer gives us a better idea of the story, the conflict and the villain.
The trailer kicks off with Martin Freeman’s character, Agent Everett Ross, monologue-ing about the wonder of Wakanda. This alone has me in a high state of anticipation for this film. Wakanda is technologically advanced…like, centuries ahead of the rest of the world. Its citizens fly spaceships, their buildings are equally as a futuristic, and their costumes (I mean super hero suits) seem to make the wearers invincible. Where does this all come from? While the film doesn’t seem to be an origin story, I do hope that we get some clear answers in the movie about the origin of these advances. They seem to me to be suggestive in design and function to the stuff we saw in Avengers, the tech used by the Chitauri…and that suggests not only extra-terrestrial origin, but also extra-dimensional.
The story seems to be a centered around a power struggle for control of Wakanda. Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger (evil name!) makes statements throughout the trailer about it being his time, about burning the world down, so I’d feel it safe to say that he’ll be the main baddie and the one facing off against Black Panther. Andy Serkis’ Ulysses Klaue, aka Klaw, accompanies Killmonger in a number of scenes. We know from the previous trailer that Klaue had been to Wakanda and branded a thief, so he is likely aiding Killmonger as he tries to find Wakanda and assume control over its amazing resources.
The balance of the trailer is full of eye candy. Creative action, props, costumes and banter promise exactly what we’ve come to love about the MCU. As far as the action goes, the best scene in the trailer is Panther, fixed to the side of a moving car, reaching into the wheel hub and tearing off a wheel. You haven’t seen that before, right?
And speaking of things we haven’t seen before…the last scene of the clip shows a brand new Black Panther costume. The mask is different, more panther-like, but the big wow factor is the purple lights bordering the costume (Mace Windu, anyone?).
Again, the soundtrack is hip-hop heavy, even the parts that seem to be scored in under the action, and I’m super stoked about this. From start to finish, Black Panther is looking to be a spectacle for the mind, ear and eye.