The majority of films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been campy with lighthearted banter and action packed battle scenes. That’s not to say that Marvel is virtuously entertainment; Winter Soldier, Civil War and Age of Ultron extended its arm to Marvel’s starker side.
The star of the impending Black Panther has now revealed that highly-anticipated film will embrace a different tone to many of the other movies in the Marvel universe.
Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa/Black Panther) in a recent interview with CBR, explained that Black Panther was a different hero to the fast-talking, witty likes of Iron Man or Ant-Man, and this will influence the film.
“For me, most of the time the darker superhero movies are the ones that I gravitate towards, that I love the most,” he explained. “I’m glad that the tone of Black Panther may be a little grittier.”
“I just wanted to establish that from the beginning, that that’s what we were doing. That that’s what I intend to do. I feel like we’ll end up in a place that I’ve always wanted to be when I look at superhero movies. Those are the ones I like the most. It’s exciting to do that.”
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler also spoke about the difficulties involved in keeping a darker Marvel film within the studio’s established universe. “It’s a specific challenge,” he told EW. “What Marvel’s doing, and what you see a lot of studios doing now that Marvel has done it so successfully, is making content that exists in a particular universe, where the characters tie in and crossover.”
It’s a little peculiar that Marvel has decided to steer on the grittier route. Marvel’s discernable competitors at DC films tend to be extremely gritty and moody. Although there is some humor sprinkled in, their more successful films are darker than the Marvel counterparts.
In contrast, the heroes of Marvel easily offer themselves to the lighthearted banter. Iron Man, Deadpool and Guardian of the Galaxy all demonstrated that a superhero movie doesn’t have to be too serious and could be categorized as comedy first.
While both Marvel and DC deliver compelling stories, it’s Marvel who flourishes in delivering resonating and personable characters that translate well on the big screen.
