After the tragic death of his father, T'Challa returns home to the secretive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to take his rightful place as king. However, his succession is challenged by Erik Killmonger, a ruthless American mercenary with a mysterious link to the royal family and a radical vision for Wakanda's future. T'Challa must rally his allies and release the full power of the Black Panther to defeat his enemy and prevent a global war.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
February 16, 2018 |
Running time |
134 minutes |
Genre |
Action Adventure Sci-Fi |
Budget |
$200,000,000 |
Box Office |
$1,349,926,083 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
Ryan Coogler |
Produced by |
Kevin Feige |
Written by |
Ryan Coogler Joe Robert Cole |
Music by |
Ludwig Göransson |
Cinematography |
Rachel Morrison |
Edited by |
Michael P. Shawver Debbie Berman |
Production Co. |
Marvel Studios |
Distributed by |
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #01 in Black Panther Collection
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The Plot
The Meteorite and the Betrayal in Oakland
Centuries ago, a meteorite composed of the alien metal vibranium crashed into the continent of Africa, sparking a war between five tribes. A warrior shaman named Bashenga was guided by a vision to the Heart-Shaped Herb, a plant mutated by the vibranium. Upon ingesting it, he gained superhuman strength and instincts, becoming the first "Black Panther." Bashenga united four of the tribes to form the nation of Wakanda, while the Jabari tribe chose to isolate themselves in the mountains. Over generations, the Wakandans utilized the vibranium to develop technology far surpassing the rest of the world, hiding their true advancements behind a holographic barrier and posing as a struggling third-world country to maintain their isolation.
In 1992, King T'Chaka travels to Oakland, California, to visit his brother, Prince N'Jobu, who is working undercover as a "War Dog." In a tense confrontation within an apartment complex, T'Chaka accuses N'Jobu of assisting the black-market arms dealer Ulysses Klaue in stealing a cache of vibranium from Wakanda. N'Jobu's partner reveals his true identity as Zuri, another undercover Wakandan, confirming the King's suspicions. The confrontation ends in tragedy, setting in motion a secret that T'Chaka would bury for decades.
The Coronation and the Challenge
In the present day, following the death of King T'Chaka at the hands of Helmut Zemo, his son T'Challa returns home to assume the throne. Before returning to the Golden City, T'Challa—accompanied by Okoye, the general of the Dora Milaje—travels to the Sambisa Forest in Nigeria. There, they extract T'Challa's ex-lover, Nakia, from an undercover assignment involving human traffickers so she can attend his coronation. Upon his return, T'Challa reunites with his mother, Queen Ramonda, and his brilliant younger sister, Princess Shuri, who heads the nation's technological design group.
At the Warrior Falls, the formal coronation ceremony takes place. T'Challa drinks a liquid that strips away the powers of the Black Panther, allowing him to face any challengers as a normal man. While the other tribes decline to challenge him, the Jabari tribe arrives led by M'Baku. M'Baku mocks T'Challa's reliance on technology and challenges his worthiness. The two engage in brutal ritual combat in the water. Despite being physically overpowered initially, T'Challa manages to submit M'Baku. He spares the Jabari leader's life, securing his claim to the throne. Once crowned, T'Challa consumes the Heart-Shaped Herb and is buried in sand, entering the Ancestral Plane. In this ethereal realm, he reunites with the spirit of his father, who assures him he is a good man but warns of the difficulties ahead, advising him to surround himself with trusted allies.
The Pursuit of Ulysses Klaue
Peace is short-lived as Ulysses Klaue resurfaces, robbing the Museum of Great Britain in London with the help of an American associate, Erik Stevens. They steal a vibranium artifact disguised as a tribal tool. Word of the theft reaches Wakanda, and W'Kabi, the head of the Border Tribe and T'Challa's best friend, demands justice; his parents were killed by Klaue decades prior. Pressure mounts on the young King to finally capture or kill the arms dealer.
Intel places Klaue at an underground casino in Busan, South Korea, where he intends to sell the artifact. T'Challa, Okoye, and Nakia infiltrate the location, only to discover the buyer is CIA agent Everett Ross. The meeting spirals into chaos when Klaue's men spot the Wakandans, leading to a violent shootout. Klaue attempts to flee, prompting a high-speed pursuit through the streets of Busan. T'Challa, donning his vibranium suit, pursues Klaue’s caravan while Shuri pilots a car remotely from Wakanda. The chase ends when T'Challa crashes Klaue's vehicle. He nearly kills the arms dealer in a rage but stops when he notices civilians filming the scene. Reluctantly, he hands Klaue over to CIA custody.
Sins of the Father
While Everett Ross interrogates Klaue, the arms dealer begins to reveal the truth about Wakanda's wealth. Suddenly, Erik Stevens attacks the facility, utilizing heavy explosives to break Klaue out. During the firefight, Ross dives in front of Nakia to shield her from a bullet, sustaining a critical spinal injury. Rather than pursue the escaping criminals, T'Challa makes the choice to transport Ross to Wakanda, where Shuri's technology can save his life. This decision causes friction, particularly with W'Kabi, who feels betrayed by T'Challa's failure to bring Klaue to justice.
Troubled by Klaue's escape and hints of a Wakandan accomplice from the past, T'Challa confronts Zuri. Zuri finally reveals the truth of 1992: N'Jobu had become radicalized by the suffering of African people worldwide and planned to arm them with Wakandan weaponry to overthrow their oppressors. When T'Chaka came to arrest him, N'Jobu attempted to shoot Zuri, forcing T'Chaka to kill his own brother to save his friend. To maintain the secrecy of Wakanda and preserve the lie that N'Jobu had simply disappeared, T'Chaka left N'Jobu’s American-born son, Erik, behind in Oakland. Erik grew up to become a lethal U.S. black ops soldier nicknamed "Killmonger," marking his body with scars for every kill.
The Usurper Takes the Throne
Killmonger betrays and murders Klaue, flying his body to the border of Wakanda as a gruesome offering. He presents himself before the tribal elders, revealing his true lineage as N'Jadaka, son of N'Jobu, and exercises his right to challenge T'Challa for the throne. T'Challa accepts the challenge. At Warrior Falls, T'Challa is once again stripped of his powers. Killmonger, fueled by years of hatred and trained in brutal combat, dominates the fight. When Zuri intervenes to confess his role in N'Jobu's death, Killmonger kills him instantly. He then defeats T'Challa, hurling the King over the waterfall to his presumed death.
Now King, Killmonger ingests the Heart-Shaped Herb to gain the Black Panther's power. In a shocking act of tyranny, he orders the rest of the herb garden incinerated to prevent anyone else from gaining the power, though Nakia manages to steal one herb before the garden is destroyed. Supported by W'Kabi and his army, Killmonger prepares to enact his father's plan: shipping advanced Wakandan weapons to operatives in London, New York, and Hong Kong to ignite a global race war.
Resurrection in the Mountains
Ramonda, Shuri, Nakia, and a healed Ross flee the capital to seek aid from the Jabari Tribe. In the snowy mountains, they find M'Baku, who reveals that his fishermen found T'Challa's comatose body on the riverbank. They are keeping him alive in repayment for T'Challa sparing M'Baku's life earlier. Ramonda grinds the stolen herb into a paste and feeds it to her son. T'Challa heals and returns to the Ancestral Plane.
In the spirit realm, T'Challa confronts T'Chaka and the other ancestors. He furiously demands to know why they abandoned a child, creating the monster that Killmonger has become. T'Chaka insists it was necessary to protect Wakanda's isolation, but T'Challa rejects this antiquated ideology, declaring that they were wrong to turn their backs on the world. He vows to correct their mistakes and fights his way back to consciousness. Upon waking, he asks M'Baku for his army's help, but M'Baku declines. Undeterred, T'Challa returns to the city alone to stop the shipment of weapons.
The Battle of the Great Mound
T'Challa arrives at Mount Bashenga just as the transport ships are preparing to launch. He attacks Killmonger, who is now wearing his own golden-accented Panther habit. The confrontation sparks a massive civil war on the plains below. Shuri, Nakia, and the Dora Milaje fight against W'Kabi and the Border Tribe. Meanwhile, Everett Ross pilots a remote jet to shoot down the weapon transports before they can leave Wakandan airspace. The battle turns dire for the loyalists until M'Baku and the Jabari Tribe arrive unexpectedly to turn the tide. Okoye confronts W'Kabi, forcing him to stand down by declaring her loyalty to Wakanda is greater than her love for him.
The fight between the two Panthers moves into the Great Mound's vibranium mine. Killmonger overpowers T'Challa and nearly kills Shuri, but T'Challa tackles him down into the mine shaft. They land on the maglev train tracks, where the sonic disruptors used to stabilize the vibranium for transport inadvertently destabilize their armored suits. Without the protection of their armor, the fight becomes a visceral test of skill and will.
Sunset on the Empire
T'Challa uses the environment to his advantage, disrupting Killmonger's suit long enough to land a fatal blow with a spearhead. With the battle won, T'Challa carries his dying cousin to the cliffside of the mountain so he can fulfill his childhood wish of seeing the Wakandan sunset. Overlooking the valley, T'Challa offers to heal Erik with Wakandan technology. Killmonger refuses, choosing death over imprisonment. He pulls the spear from his chest, stating, "Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from ships, 'cause they knew death was better than bondage." Erik dies a free man.
A New Era
Rejecting the isolationism of past kings, T'Challa reclaims his throne with a new vision. He travels back to Oakland, California, and purchases the apartment complex where N'Jobu was murdered, announcing plans to turn it into the first Wakandan International Outreach Center, run by Nakia and Shuri. Shortly after, T'Challa addresses the United Nations in Vienna. He reveals Wakanda's true nature and resources to the world, declaring that they will no longer hide in the shadows but will work to improve the world as one tribe.
In the aftermath, Bucky Barnes, the former Winter Soldier who was granted asylum by T'Challa, is shown waking up in a hut in a remote Wakandan village. He is greeted by Shuri, who has been helping him deprogram his mind, ready to begin his life anew as the "White Wolf."
