When “Black Panther” was released to cinemas, it was projected to make close to $100 – $120 million. However, numbers currently show that it has grossed over $427 million worldwide, breaking box-office records.

The movie starts off with extremely vague as to what exactly is happening. I feel as though Ryan Coogler, the director of the film, intentionally started off the story in order for the audience not to be exposed to too much about the story right off the bat.

The main character, T’Challa, (Chadwick Boseman) has been living his life in the United States, as a typical American citizen. After the death of his father – the king of his homeland Wakanda – T’Challa returns home and takes the throne. As time goes on, the director exposes bits and pieces of the truth to the audience by using flashbacks, memories, and epiphanies – providing more and more insight over a long period of time, building up the suspense.

I’ve always loved superhero movies. They’re exciting, fun, and make you feel empowered to be just as strong as the heroes. The downside of all superhero movies, though,  is that they are all dramatically unrealistic and  share problems that are non-existent.

That’s what makes “Black Panther” different from most Marvel and DC films. In an effort to avoid accidentally exposing spoilers, I will explain why “Black Panther” sets itself apart from the rest of the superhero movies.

The story’s main conflict is that someone dangerous, who holds a despicable goal, takes the throne from T’Challa. His despicable goal, his motivation, the very reason he’s been training his whole life to kill T’Challa in order to become a powerful king was formed due to the already existent problem of racism. His goal is to give a specific group of people a taste of their own medicine and after this motive is exposed in the movie, it makes the viewer wonder about the oppression that the black community has had to endure and still has to endure today.

“It was a breath of fresh air. The comic book genre movies are usually about explosions and violence but with ‘Black Panther’, it was refreshing that there was such depth to it,” said outdoor education teacher Leif Gamrath.

On the same note, senior Cailey June shared her thoughts saying “‘Black Panther’ did a good job in the way that it touched real world issues that the black community deals with but through a platform where it attracts our generation, which is through entertainment. Not only did they make it a superhero movie but it was also a political statement.”

About the story itself as an entertaining, box-office record breaking film, it has gotten the acknowledgement and popularity it deserves.

Not only is it a “woke” superhero movie, it is a new addition to the Marvel collection and does not, in the slightest way, put shame to that collection.

“Personally for me, it was a bit slow in the beginning. I think that it was an overflow of background information that it made it a little confusing. But after I finished it, I like the movie overall. It had good actions, a good plot and I think that they killed it with their casting of good actors like Michael B. Jordan and Forest Whitaker,” said senior Ethan Kang.

Senior JP Tucker added that “the movie itself has the best villain that Marvel has had in a while. It shared his backstory and why he feels the way he feels and why he desires to do what he desires, whether it’s an act of goodness or not. I thought it was interesting and different that you couldn’t exactly tell who the villain of the story was until it got towards the end of the movie.”