What Black Panther Could Mean for the Afrofuturism Movement

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Imagine the difficulties of being a Disney movie, much less a Marvel-Disney movie, in the 21st century. The financial pressures to bust the block on a global scale; the concomitant riddle of needing to seduce your diverse viewership, with its Babel Tower's worth of tongues; the hypersensitive, vociferous, hardcore fans; and atop all that, the Mercury-hot culture wars that you simply cannot avoid engaging. And now, if you're Black Panther, cube all those thorny problems, because you're fundamentally Afrocentric in a moment when anti-black animus is ascendant and white supremacist sensibilities are fashionable in many quarters. That's what makes Ryan Coogler's Black Panther so boldly titillating before we even glimpse its fabulous cinematography, CGI, and acting.