In 2018, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) released “Black Panther”. After being introduced in “Captain America: Civil War”, the famous Black Panther is back in his solo adventure against Killmonger, the powerful antagonist played by Michael B. Jordan. Find out which character he was inspired to compose his performance in Ryan Coogler’s film.
Black Pantherone of Marvel’s greatest hits
After a short introduction to Captain America: Civil WarT’Challa is back in his own adventure in 2018 with Black Panther. Directed by Ryan Coogler, the feature film allowed to sit the late Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther.
Also led by Lupita Nyong’o, Forest Whitaker, Letitia Wright, Martin Freeman or even Michael B. Jordan as the villainous Killmonger, Black Panther is a huge success for Marvel Studios. The feature film was nominated 7 times for the Oscars (including a Best Picture nomination) and walked away with three figurines : Best sets, Best costumes and Best music for Ludwig Göransson. On the box office side, the work brought in more than $1.3 billion worldwide.
The inspiration of Michael B. Jordan
Black Panther must also much to the presence of Michael B. Jordan. The actor offers a muscular interpretation in the skin of Eric Killmonger, the big bad of this new adventure. Legitimate successor to the throne of Wakanda, he returns to his native land to claim his due. But faced with his violent and dangerous profile, the Wakandans oppose his election.
Michael B. Jordan was inspired by another great African-American actor to create his Killmonger character. In 2019, Denzel Washington received a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. The opportunity for Michael B. Jordan to speak to pay tribute to his eldest. During this intervention, Michael B. Jordan therefore mentioned the work of Denzel Washington. In particular, he stopped at his unforgettable performance in the film Glory (1990), directed by Edward Zwick. In this poignant historical drama, Denzel Washington plays the rebel soldier Tripa former slave turned soldier, his back ravaged by whippings.
Inspired by real facts, Glory tells the story of the very first black regiment, created during the Civil War in 1863. Delivering an incredible interpretation, Denzel Washington even received Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in glory.
A sequence of Glory who marked the actor
Michael B. Jordan was thus inspired by Denzel Washington in Glory to build their own character. During the presentation of the Life Achievement Award, the actor of Black Panther said :
I heard a story around Glory. In the scene around the campfire, you weren’t supposed to be shirtless but you still had your scars on your back. So that you could feel them, know that they represented what your character had to go through. I’m telling you tonight, brother, that role is the only reason I played Killmonger. I had those scars too, even though you couldn’t see them, so I wanted to thank you for that.
It must be recognized that it is a great source of inspiration. Glory is an intense and culturally central historical fresco in American cinema. The feature film had been nominated 5 times for the 1990 Oscars and even left with three figurines : Best Cinematography, Best Sound and therefore Best Supporting Actor for Denzel Washington.
