‘Black Panther 2’ is a big project and has a lot riding on it, irrespective of it being an MCU movie. Why? Because the first movie had left a legacy that changed things for the Black community and Hollywood in general. Now, with the current developments, it seems the sequel also has high ambitions as to what changes it wants to make happen on a lot of fronts that need some necessary wholesome change.
Hollywood having a diversity problem is no surprise. The industry tends to make every non-white character stereotypical and one-toned. The black people are seen mostly as either the main lead’s funny friend or a disgruntled African American who was bullied or wronged and is now out for revenge. While things were getting better and well-written characters were coming up, the change still wasn’t going full throttle. And then came ‘Black Panther‘.
The movie was the first Marvel Studios film with a Black director and a predominantly Black cast and went on to do a mind blowing 1.30 billion dollars at the Box office and won three Oscars. But its greatest impact was how the film changed things for the Black community. The notion of how a film’s commercial prospects are lower with the cast mostly being non-white was broken and proved that irrespective of the cast’s race if it’s a good movie, it will find acceptance from the audience. Now, with the upcoming ‘Black Panther 2’, Marvel is hoping to do the same for the Latino community in Holywood. How? By getting rid of the stereotypical characters for the community and writing them better ones than what they are usually given.
In an interview with Empire, Huerta Tenoch the Latin actor who is playing Namor the submariner in the film spoke about how his character, unlike speculated, will be the anti-hero and not the villain. He also talked about how Latin Americans are mostly the bad guys in Hollywood. He will be portraying the role of the ruler of the watery kingdom of Talocan, similar to Atlantis. Namor may be a threat to Wakanda in the sequel, but that doesn’t mean his reasons and motivations are villainous or evil. Also, him being the antihero will mean that ‘Black Panther 2’ will not be the last appearance of the character. This is a welcome change from Hollywood.
Interestingly, Tenoch is not the only significant Latino cast in the film. The big venture will also star Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams or Iron Heart. She will also get her own Disney+ series and is reportedly set to make appearances in other MCU projects as well.
While this is just a small step, Marvel doing something like this for an underrepresented community deserves praise. The trade seems hopeful that the film will outgross its prequel. Let’s hope the film comes out exceeding our wildest expectations and be that project that will give a jolt to Hollywood and lead to better roles for non-white actors in Hollywood.
We’re hiring!
We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.
