You’ve been waiting and waiting and it’s finally time! Black Panther hits theatres this weekend and we wouldn’t be surprised if, like us, you’re looking at how many showings you can squeeze into 72 or so hours…
So, so much about Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is worth celebrating: From the incredible storytelling and empowering sense of culture, to the jaw-dropping sets and costumes. Giving all of it life, of course, is one of the most extraordinarily talented casts ever to grace the MCU: From leading man Chadwick Boseman on down, it’s a breathtaking group to follow on this journey. We’re guessing you’re going to want to watch these performers even more after the last post-credits scene drops, so today’s Friday Five is some recommendations of top-notch films and TV you can stream featuring Black Panther‘s epic cast…
Marshall (2017)
Cast featured: Chadwick Boseman
Before taking his place on the throne of Wakanda, Boseman made something of a name for himself as a leading man in biography flicks about some of the biggest names in black culture of the 20th Century; he’s played baseball great Jackie Robinson in 42, and legendary soul singer James Brown in Get On Up. This past year, he tackled perhaps the most important of these roles yet, in the role of Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American elected to the United States Supreme Court. Boseman is magnetic portraying Marshall in a very different place than we are used to seeing him, on a crucial case at the very beginning of his career as an NAACP lawyer. (Available for rent on most VOD platforms)
Queen of Katwe (2016)
Cast featured: Lupita Nyong’o
Full disclosure, I waited too damn long to watch Mira Nair’s biopic Queen of Katwe. Never too late and all that, sure, but now I’m just thinking about how many emotional, tear-filled viewings I could have gotten in for almost a year. Got some catching up to do! The titular star is Madina Nalwanga, incredibly inspiring as Phiona Mutesi, who rose from poverty in one of the poorest slums in Uganda to become an international chess prodigy; meanwhile, the incomparable Lupita Nyong’o is a force of nature as Phiona’s mother, who knows her daughter deserves a better life than selling maize in the streets but is terrified of the disappointment she might face. An unfeasibly entertaining sports film with enormous heart. Have tons of Kleenex ready. (Available to stream on Netflix)
Creed (2015)
Cast featured: Michael B. Jordan; directed by Ryan Coogler
Safe to say, it is Coogler’s years-later, critically-acclaimed entry into the Rocky franchise and its unexpectedly powerful, poignant redemption tale that rocketed him to a level of prestige where Marvel set their sights on him to bring T’Challa to the big screen in his own title. If you’re a fan of the director there’s no better time to revisit it, as well as Jordan (aka Black Panther villain Killmonger)’s searing performance as the son and heir of the late Apollo Creed’s boxing legend. (Coogler and Jordan’s collaborative partnership goes all the way back to the filmmaker’s first feature, 2013’s Fruitvale Station. May there be more to come!) (Available to stream on Amazon Prime)
“Black Museum”/ Black Mirror, episode 4×06 (2017)
Cast featured: Letitia Wright
To be perfectly honest, as a whole “Black Museum” is one of my least favorite Black Mirror episodes of all, and I’m a pretty huge fan of the show. While it’s appreciated that Charlie Brooker wanted to return to the anthology-inside-an-anthology format that made the “White Christmas” special so fascinating, “Black Mirror” mostly seemed self-referential and screechingly determined to shock in a way that the series has (mostly) avoided so far. There is one miraculous, shining light in this flawed episode though, and that is Letitia Wright. The gal you’re surely in love with by now as Princess Shuri is terrific in this, as the soft-spoken yet unfazed “guest” of the titular museum whose reason for being there is the final act twist that she delivers with aplomb. (Available to stream on Netflix)
Get Out (2017)
Cast featured: Daniel Kaluuya
Look… do we really need to tell you to watch Get Out at this point? The sleeper hit of last year has consistently built on goodwill and word of mouth to the point that it now has four Oscar nominations. (NOOICE, Jordan Peele!) It is unquestionably a favorite to win at least one prize, but its importance as a genre-crossing cultural touchstone can’t be denied…. nor can the breakout performance of Daniel Kaluuya as Chris. Kaluuya delivers solid support in Black Panther as W’Kabi, but he pulls off the incredible feat here of taking the increasingly bizarre nightmare that unfolds and grounding it in one young man’s very real terror. We’ll join you in sulking if he loses the Best Actor Oscar. (Available to stream on HBO Now and HBO Go.)
