The upcoming Black Panther movie has made Marvel Cinematic Universe history by earning the cover of Time Magazine, which is a first for the studio. Black Panther is one of the most anticipated movies of 2018 and it finally hits theaters next Friday. There’s all of the early reviews, which are mostly positive, except for one 3-star review that brought the movie from its 100 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes down to a 99 percent.
In addition, Black Panther has broken Fandango’s all-time presale record for a movie released in the first quarter of the year as well as the highest for a superhero movie ever. Marvel appears to be unable to fail at this point, with early estimates putting Black Panther well over $150 million for opening weekend. This will also make it one of the best openings for a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie and now the standalone adventure has made it to the cover of Time Magazine.
The new cover of Time Magazine features an up-close portrait shot of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman with a title that reads, “A Hero Rises.” The magazine spoke to Boseman along with director Ryan Coogler about the movie along with the political climate in which the groundbreaking Black Panther is coming out. 2018 in America is a much different place than it was when the movie was first announced in 2014. Boseman had this to say:
“You might say that this African nation is fantasy. But to have the opportunity to pull from real ideas, real places and real African concepts, and put it inside of this idea of Wakanda, that’s a great opportunity to develop a sense of what that identity is, especially when you’re disconnected from it.”
Time Magazine doesn’t usually put superhero movies on the cover, so it should really say something about Black Panther landing such a prestigious honor. The movie isn’t just a groundbreaking superhero movie. It’s a movie that traces its roots back to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s all the way through history and to today. Black Panther takes the issues head on as opposed to running away from them to ultimately tell a story about identity that works universally for everybody.
Black Panther will finally hit theaters on February 16th with the soundtrack curated by Kendrick Lamar out on the February 9th. The one-two punch of the soundtrack, which is guaranteed to be a hit and then the release of the movie one week later is adding to the excitement. In addition to listening to the soundtrack for a week straight before the release of the movie, you can also read the in-depth article in Time Magazine, which was written by Jamil Smith and goes into the history as well as the future of Black Panther. Check out the cover below, courtesy of Jamil Smith’s Twitter account.
