Analyse the success of Black Panther as a work of Afrofuturism.
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Culture
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The film is deeply indulged with cultural forms from Africa past and present. It successfully engages a strong representation and embracing of African history and culture in multiple dimensions; values, rituals, art, architecture, languages, and more (Johnson, 2018). In many African worldviews, every facet of human life is part of the spiritual world; and this is portrayed thoughtfully through the narrative. In the opening scene, a son asks his father about “The story of home.”: are immersed into Wakanda’s deep ancestral history; their tribes, their admired protector ‘Black Panther’, and their duty to shield the natural resource, vibranium from the world’s chaos. This spirituality guides Wakandans dynamically through their lives - highlighted through their traditions and rituals. Wakanda also stands strong in its monarchy, which has not been disrupted by modern political systems. The film epitomises the goal of Afrofuturism, “to connect those from the black diaspora with their forgotten African history” (Tate, n.d.).

This is a representation of culture which is incredibly powerful and refreshing, allowing not only the black community, but also people of colour, to feel proud of where they came from. However, we must also remember that, although inspired diversely through African culture, this Afrofuturistic speculation is written mostly from an African-American lens, and may not portray the views of those living natively. Black Panther is a typical depiction of Pop culture Afrofuturism, presented through glorified visual aesthetics and technology (Adayinka, J). This type of depiction translates differently to other classes of black people, those that do not have the same access to the information (Aliyu & Mbewe, 2018).


A substance too powerful
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To keep its’ power substance, Vibranium, a secret, Wakanda has lived in isolation. This plays an instrumental factor as to why Wakanda holds both nature and its culture so sacredly during its technological acceleration. In the outside world, these aspects have gotten lost in modernisation. Wakanda portrays a powerful, thriving place and people where African society was not suppressed by western superiority and resource expropriation. However, the unfortunate reality, as argued by Gerry Canavan, is that Wakanda may never make its grand emergence - due to how revolutionary it would be. Wakanda’s potential influence on the world - materially, technologically, economically, philosophically, would dismantle the chronology of the MCU’s ‘eternal present’ (Canavan, 2018). This is the greatest potential limitation of Black Panther is that it disillusioned the promise for its potential of being a worldwide superpower.