https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/movies/best-movies-21st-century.html
96. Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018)
There’s so much to love. It’s a superhero spectacle that actually has something important to say, about how identity, history and responsibility intersect. Wakanda, the Afrofuturistic world where the story takes place, is a visual wonder. The women (played by Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o and Letitia Wright — all excellent) aren’t just sidekicks or love interests. Michael B. Jordan, as the tragically villainous Killmonger, has never been more swoon worthy. And, of course, Chadwick Boseman shines in the title role, sadly one of his last before dying of cancer.
How? A good movie needs to be more than 'member berries.
It breaks out of the typical Marvel formula, Black Panther doesn’t.
Marvel formula:
Main character shares a tragic backstory with the villain who turns into a bigger, badder version of the hero.
Iron Man - Iron Monger
Hulk - Abomination
Iron Man - Whiplash
Thor - Loki
Captain America - Red Skull
Iron Man - Extremis
Thor - Malekith
Captain America - Winter Soldier
Avengers - Ultron
Ant-Man - Yellowjacket
Avengers - Avengers (Civil War)
Doctor Strange - Kaecilius
Star Lord - The Living Planet (his dad!)
Spider-Man - Vulture
Thor - Hela
Black Panther - Killmonger
I mean, you can’t exactly fault Marvel for running the formula over and over again when every time they run it, it makes a billion dollars.
But by the time Black Panther came out, you could count on one hand the times they didn’t run the formula:
The Avengers
Guardians of the Galaxy
How is T’Challa’s backstory like Erik’s?
Sons of Wakanda, powered by the Heart Shaped Herb.
That’s it?
All it takes, Killmonger is a dark mirror of T’Challa, same as any of the others listed, from Obidiah Stane onward.
But one of the criteria is “they’re from the same country”. That’s grasping.
It’s not grasping, they have the same power set from the same source.
Yeah, the same power set isn’t grasping. But is Darren Cross a shadowy reflection of Steve Rogers because they’re both American? The nationality part is grasping.
And so the same power set MIGHT mean that Killmonger’s a shadowy reflection of T’Challa (and I say “MIGHT” because is Captain Love a shadowy reflection of Zorro just because they’re both good with swords? Would making him a fellow Californian make him one? Is every boxer that Rocky fights a “shadowy reflection” of him, just because they’re fellow boxers?), but does that mean that Black Panther is the same movie as all other Marvel movies? Not really. “The hero and villain have similar abilities” is ultimately a very small part of the overall movie. This entire line of criticism of the movie is a stretch, and seems more like a post-facto rationalization for dislike of the movie that comes from somewhere else.
spoiler
The choice Peter makes to sacrifice his relationships is unique and works better due to the previous movies. Same with Aunt May dying, it works better when you’ve gotten to know her.
The member berries help though.