Feige speaks again:
http://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/black-panther-2-kevin-feige-112528334.html
http://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/kevin-feige-discusses-future-black-051603750.html
http://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/marvel-boss-kevin-feige-black-020640648.html
We lose Kobe, T'Chadwick, MF Doom, and way too many others. We have this unapologetically racist, infinitely incompetent autocrat as our 45th President flaming the fans of White supremacists and Republican powermongers plus their psychopathic cohorts actually assault The Capitol Building...tallying some 5 police deaths, so there's not even the most flimsy veneer of authenticity to these same insurrectionists claim that #bluelivesmatter when THEY are the ones TAKING these Blue Lives [ and THEY HAVE BOTH THREATENED TO TAKE BLUE LIVES AND ACTUALLY TAKEN BLUE LIVES MULTIPLE TIMES...AT LEAST 6 TIMES...PRIOR TO THIS ] of police officers. These same horrific creatures are actually and truthfully responding in fury to the fact that Afrikan American voters handed the political "trifecta" [ The White House, Senate AND House ] to the allegedly Progressive Democratic Party.
And now? Feige says that T'Challa won't be recast. And while I'm deeply suspicious of Feige? And racist Disney? I don't think that this decision by him is necessarily the deathknell for T'Challa. The REAL determination as to the fate of T'Challa will be the EXPLANATION for T'Challa's absence.
And that explanation? Is already in MCU canon. Brethren, I virtually guarantee you that BP 2 will chronicle the events befalling Wakanda IMMEDIATELY AFTER "THE SNAP". Remember that I and others brought this up several times before? Because in The Snap. Literally right there? We have the ALREADY ACCEPTED BY THE AUDIENCE explanation as to T'Challa's absence, and truthfully? We have a burning need to determine and discover what happened during this time. In this way? Disney allows we the public to mourn our fallen T'Chadwick AND fall deeper in love with the massive array of characters and culture within Wakanda itself. It's utterly vital to turn Wakanda itself into a distinct character and world of amazing adventure unto itself [ like Asgard, as I have said before ] that is the incarnation of multiple real life continental Afrikan gods, legends, real life and legendary events largely unknown by the rest of the world. If properly presented? We already know the reactions of the rest of said world: they will continue to fanatically consume all things of Afrikan culture, as they have already catapulted Afrikan culture to the pinnacle of the most monetized and most powerful social and popular cultures of the world. BP 2 will continue to introduce the very heart of Afrikan culture and its infinite power to educate, elevate, enthrall, capture, excite, and amaze the nonAfrikan world while infusing we Afrikans with not only all of the foregoing but also the huge power of much needed pride, representation, resurging cultural identity, etc. This path will make BP2 a SMASHING SUCCESS, on a par with BP 1.
But here's the danger: if this second installment by Coogler IS a major success without T'Challa; that very success? Could possibly threaten the RETURN of T'Challa for BP 3. There is every possibility that T'Challa may not return for BP 3 and instead be replaced by Shuri, as he was canonically replaced by Shuri during Hudlin's reign. This...combined with the coming inflammatory events that will grip the USA as violent and extremist factions of White America react with greater fear, fury, intolerance and desperation to The Browning of America and the simultaneous rise of Black Power...could very well empower the continuance of the narrative sans T'Challa for BP 3.
Here's where the internal politics of Disney really weighs heavily, and Coogler doesn't have any real power in that process. Because if it were up to Coogler? I'd have zero fears. Coogler has made it clear that he is a T'Challa fan down to the very roots and dregs of his soul. He'd bring T'Challa back before BP 3 ended.
But Feige? I don't trust him. Not his ALTRUISM, anyway. And we all know that Disney is racist, so none of us trust Disney any further than we can throw The Capitol Building. BP 2 will break a billion dollars, and merely by doing so? Will be hailed a colossal success. Just as other wise men on this board predicted it would be; just as geniuses like Brother Ture, Emperorjones, our Brother Kimoyo, and others predicted. And well BP 2 SHOULD be hailed as a mind-blowing success. A record smashing, barriers breaking success...BECAUSE IT IS VIRTUALLY GUARANTEED TO BE EXACTLY THAT. The first ever superhero story led by not just ONE Black woman but by BLACK WOMEN OF DIFFERENT GENERATIONS. Wonder Woman...the first gender barrier crushing, worldwide monster hit which I watched and supported...hit 821 million dollars gross.
Shuri? Is going to CRUSH that. She'll lead us to a billie plus. #blackgirlmagic, y'all. And I'm all for that. I'm here for that. I will watch that movie 3 times, just like I watched BP 1 three times in the studio.
But if they use #blackgirlmagic to foist upon us this faux "either/or" dichotomy of having EITHER a magnificent Afrikan female superhero led franchise OR a magnificent Afrikan male superhero led franchise INSTEAD of a magnificent AFRIKAN superhero saturated franchise with both genders represented powerfully and respectfully...as Wakanda was intended to be? Bluntly stated, if they don't restore T'Challa or feature T'Challa by BP 3? I will NEVER watch a MCU movie again. Eff Feige.
Now. Do I think that such is likely to happen? Again, right now I don't think so but truthfully it's a decision that's still up in the air. It's up to the performance of BP 2, the cultural and political mood of the country AFTER BP 2 hits, and the plans of Feige. Because? Feige could slash the throat of T'Challa in the movies by simply not showing him at all until Phase 5...
...while showing T'Challa in Disney+ shows to blast Disney+ into the profiteering stratosphere. Seriously reflect on that, not from our perspective as true fans of BP and/or Afrakans ourselves; instead think of it from the perspective of the Feiges and Disney major shareholders of the world. Which argument makes the most sense...as in dollars and cents...to you? Zero of our passionate BP fan boy noise registers. But...prepping a series to crush all previous records, shower you with unabated good press during what is surely an even MORE contentious time in U.S. history than this nascent 2021 has already brought us, etc etc? That would curl their greedy little toes with unabashed moneygasms.
And ultimately? Even we at HEF would go along with it. Grumblingly. Because we don't have any choice in the matter.
I seriously doubt that most people on HEF will REFUSE to watch T'Challa if he suddenly cameo'd on CAGE or some such in 2022. ESPECIALLY with the history of CAGE and T'Challa. And even crazier? We know that the OG Captain America from The Truth: Red, White and Black..yes, Isaiah Bradley...is already slated to be in "FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER". Can you TRULY TELL ME that you'd REFUSE to see a Disney+ team up of Josiah X Bradley son of Isaiah Bradley...and literally a naturally born Super Soldier...Falcon, CAGE, Misty Knight, The New Iron Fist of Colleen Wing, T'Challa and maybe Monica Rambeau imported from WandaVision for a spell? That's a lineup that not even our own R to the H imagined [ but which is in my fanfic...ahem, ahem, shameless plug. Lol ].
Real talk? If CAGE, FALCON and T'CHALLA happened? Anywhere that happened? I would be there [ unless Feige and Disney waved their Klan flag in some way prior to that ]. Imagine Feige deciding to feature T'Challa on some of the lower rating shows THROUGHOUT Disney+ for a couple of episodes on each lower rating series? That series would blast through the roof. That's also a PERFECT WAY to reintroduce the new actor portraying T'Challa [ Denzel's son JDW ], get the positive press, amp the ratings and get stupid money, prep the MCU audience for this new actor's portrayal of T'Challa [ which will receive rave reviews and multiple respectful mentions of T'Chadwick ]...WITHOUT risking the multibillion dollar tentpole of BP 3 or BP in Phase Five or whatever Phase it is...on an UNTESTED UNKNOWN who Disney doesn't know is able to TOP the receipts from all previous BP movies, if not at least equal them.
You do this? And BP in Phase Five, as well as BP on the animated Avengers, as well as BP anywhere...IS THE HOTTEST PROPERTY IN SUPERHERO MOVIES. If Feige is equally careful with BP in Marvel comics? This will usher in another "never before thought possible" barrier being broken:
Black Panther will break Batman's strangle hold on comics and BP will become the hottest property IN THE ENTIRE COMICS WORLD ON EARTH.
And our own creatives need to seize the day and use this fertile time to introduce even more of our BLACK OWNED TOP TO BOTTOM potential/virtually guaranteed monster hits. I have one right now.
Imagine if Tyler Perry rolled out from his movie studio a series starring Orlando Jones as MISTER NANCY? That? Would be a MONSTER hit! That? Could be the FIRST BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE PRODUCED BY A BLACK OWNED STUDIO.
Imagine a movie series centered on BASS REEVES, the REAL LIFE "Lone Ranger". Starting with how Bass Reeves...a KIPURA expert [ the Montu war art of The Empire of Kongo which my family's art of Njia Uhuru Kipura is rooted in and descended from ] as taught by his parents and the elders on the planation where he was initially enslaved...gained his freedom by beating nearly unto death the horrid Overseer and fleeing with great speed and cunning into Native American territory where he not only learned multiple Native American tongues but ALSO ENCOUNTERED OTHER FREE AFRIKANS WHO WERE EXPERTS OF KIPURA [ perhaps cinematically including one or both of his own parents and/or those who first taught him Kipura as a child ]; skills he honed and replied upon to later become the most capable lawman in USA history. There is so much of his personal history which isn't told. Our own Afrikan creatives could set about presenting Bass Reeves as the real life combo of ASSASSINS FROM ASSASSIN'S CREED and JOHN WICK that he actually was. But we must drink the cup to its dregs if we do that: we must show the tragic last hunt of Reeves to bring in his own law-breaking son for the White man who eventually coldly abandons him...and the lessons Bass Reeves learns from this, and passes on to his children.
Imagine a series centered on High John The Conqueror. Or Gaspar Yanga. Or Tahtahme, the great Jamaican Warrior Queen. Or...
...you get the idea.
Thoughts?
