What Surprised Angela Bassett Most About Black Panther

Angela Bassett reveals what surprised her most from the reaction to the first Black Panther movie. The film, following Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa,earned massive critical and financial success when it was released. BlackPanther is the 18th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and remains an impressive earner in the expansive franchise at $1.3 billion. Black Panther also holds the designation of being the only MCU movie to ever be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. It went on to win Marvel the studio’s first three Oscars. Prolific MCUdirectors Joe and Anthony Russo have also praised Black Panther‘s Ryan Coogler for his work on the film.

Bassett plays T’Challa and Shuri’s mother Ramonda, the Queen Mother of Wakanda. As T’Challa’s family is a major part of his story, Bassett had a pivotal role in the first film. Ramonda gave the new superhero invaluable advice and served as a grounding force for both her son and daughter throughout the movie.

With four years in between the first film and the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Bassett has had time to reflect on the success of the first movie and her experiences with it. In an interview with The New York Times, Bassett shared what surprised her the most about the reaction to Black Panther. Check out her quote below:

I was very pleasantly surprised by the outpouring of love for the story, for the actors, for the representation, for the entertainment of it all. Not being a comic book person myself coming into this project, I expected those who love the Marvel Universe to show up. But for the rest of humanity to show up in droves was mind-blowing.

It makes sense that Bassett was surprised by the intense reaction to Black Panther, especially when bearing in mind that her last comic book movie role was the maligned Green Lantern. As the box-office numbers and accolades show, it was more than just comic book fans who went to theaters to see Black Panther. What’s more, the success of the film was not a fluke. Coogler has proven himself to be one of the best directors working today, and the individuals he brought in to work on the movie made Black Panther what it is. The film proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that audiences want to see diverse superhero movies and are going to show up for them, as Bassett put it, “in droves.“

The upcoming sequel does have to unfortunately contend with the tragic passing of Boseman, who Bassett and her fellowBlack Pantherco-stars have spoken of often while promoting the film. Even with the decision to not recast T’Challa for Black Panther 2, it seems likely the upcoming sequel will be a financial success on par with the original, bringing back audiences that fell in love with the first movie and the world of Wakanda.

Source: The New York Times