Pop culture critic Evan Narcisse was recently recruited to write the Rise of the Black Panther comic for Marvel. Narcisse wrote his story without any inside knowledge of the Black Panther movie, the details of which were kept tightly under wraps. When he finally saw the film, he was blown away.
“I was surprised at how political the story was,” Narcisse says in Episode 302 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast. “How it embedded its meta-narrative of exploring one’s own blackness and black identity. That was basically the text of the movie.”
Jesse J. Holland, author of the novel Who Is the Black Panther?, was also pleasantly surprised that the movie got so political. He notes that geopolitics is one thing that really sets Black Panther apart from other superheroes.
“T’Challa isn’t worrying about the rent, he’s worrying about whether Latveria is going to invade,” Holland says. “He’s talking to Namor and he’s talking to Victor Von Doom. You get to…
