After ‘Black Panther 2’, remember the best FILMS and SERIES with black superheroes

The comic world, especially when it comes to superheroes, has almost always been indifferent to issues of diversity, whether related to causes or races. Even during the apartheid era, few black hoodies were popular with contemporary readers. A lot because the major American labels, such as Detective Comics (DC) or Marvel, only had figures of white men and women in their exceptional cast.

Also in 1963, Little Zeng, who is considered by many to be the first black superhero, by illustrator and musician Chris Acemandese Hall, even came out in the book “The Cultural and Political Movements of Harlem Between 1960 and 1970: by Malcolm X to black is magnificent’, edited by Klytus Smith However, the work was niche and ultimately did not reach many people around the world or even on American soil.

So it wasn’t until three years after Little Zeng that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created and launched Black Panther for Marvel, first as a supporting cast in “Fantastic Four” magazine. The two artists were American Jews, personalities still somewhat marginalized in the country, thus having what they now call a place of speech. Interestingly, it was exactly in 1966 that the Black Panthers party was created, which is also important for the comic itself to gain strength.

Shortly after, we had the arrival of Falcon, Captain America’s sidekick; then came Storm, who even a Kenyan lived in Wakanda and even married T’Challa; and finally the iconic Luke Cage, Blade and others appeared.

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DC, on the other hand, did not create Black Lightning until 1977, by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eden; the incredible duo Marv Wolman and George Pérez created Cyborg in 1980, in the magazine ‘Young Titans’; and Vixen was the studio’s first black heroine, arriving a year later. It wasn’t until the 1990s and 2000s that more black characters began to appear in these stories. However, everything is very timid, compared to the representation we have today – even if we have to evolve a lot on this aspect.

In the cinema, they took even longer to introduce these characters, where the rare times when black people appeared as superheroes were always approached under the theme of humor. As is the case with 1993’s “The Meteor Man,” a superhero comedy written, directed, and starring Townsend with a supporting cast that included James Earl Jones, Don Cheadle, Jennifer Lewis, and Eddie Griffin.

But then, finally, in the mid to late 1990s, serious, super badass characters began to appear on the big screen, not only living up to the quality of the work but also taking themselves seriously and creating interesting universes.

Today, movies like ‘Black Panther’ manage to rake in over a billion dollars, having a cast made up almost entirely of black actors. But, until we get to that, several other equally good productions have come out, either in theaters or even on TV.

So, based on the release of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, here we have compiled a list of the best movies and series featuring black characters. Of course, we only had to pick a few, many were left out, so please mention your favorites in the comments as well. Here we are!

Movies

MIB – Men in Black (1997)

The same year 1997 also released ‘Spawn – The Soldier of Hell’, an honest film for its time, but which today has aged over time and is about to get a remake. However, it was Will Smith who shone that year with the sensational adventure ‘MIB’, where we got the origin of an authentic black alien-fighting superhero. A fun movie, with incredible scenes and a super creative plot.

Blade, the Vampire Hunter (1998)

‘Blade’ is for many people the first superhero movie taken seriously and it has been from the beginning to the vein we have today over 25 years later. Yes, ‘X-Men’ popularized everything, including bringing in the Storm himself, starring Halle Berry, but it’s Wesley Snipes who, to date, holds the most prominent black superhero position in cinema. . As we know, Marvel Studios should also release its version soon.

The Protector (2014)

Who would have thought that the gigantic Denzel Washington would star in a superhero adventure in which he himself, aged over 50, would fight dozens of bad guys there. “The Protector” doesn’t bear the hallmark of Marvel or DC, but it manages to be just as amazing, and even more exciting than some of those titles released by those studios. The second movie is just as impactful and still brings a whole lesson left by old Denzel.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Webhead had already scored in the seventh art several times, with “Spider-Man 2” being in the hall of the best superhero films ever released, but, let’s be honest, you can’t compare anything that has been done in this universe with ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’. A true work of art, which brought Miles Morales into a visually captivating universe, with strong themes and extremely inventive writing. Address various facets and universes of the masked arachnid, as never before in audiovisual.

Hancock (2008)

Will Smith isn’t mentioned here on the list twice by chance, it’s because with Hancock he managed to bring in a kind of clumsy, hungover Superman, destroying cities with positively megalomaniacal scenes and a mad plot that together resulted in raw pleasure. Will Smith and Charlize Theron are a sensational duo, doing before the first “Iron Man” what Marvel does today, a fun and unpretentious adventure.

Series

Super Shock (2000)

There’s no way to talk about a black superhero series without mentioning the sensational animation Super Shock, which marked a turning point in the field. In the plot, Virgil Hawkins is an intelligent and good-natured young man who lives in the town of Dakota, with his father and sister. After being accidentally exposed to an unknown gas, he gains electrostatic superpowers. With the help of his genius friend, Ritchie, Virgil decides to become a superhero and help people with his new abilities, becoming Super Shock. It was unjustly canceled after the second season, where DC decided to focus only on “Justice League”.

Luke Cage (2016)

Taking as its basis the cinematic movement of blaxploitation and the films of filmmaker Spike Lee, ‘Luke Cage’ has built a powerful, dangerous and fascinating universe, in addition to exuding an aesthetic charm. Mike Colter also brought immense strength and elegance to the character, and Netflix made two great seasons. Too bad it got cancelled, too.

Black Lightning (2018)

Jefferson Pierce is a family man who must once again become the vigilante Black Lightning when gang violence threatens the future of his community and his daughter becomes obsessed with enforcing justice. He must, however, exercise caution, as the police are looking for him. A serious story, full of social strata and at the same time without ever leaving aside the classic superhero imprint.

Watchers (2019)

By doing otherwise, recreating a whole story and drawing on nothing but the essentials of Alan Moore’s work, HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ emerged as a gem in the Trump administration, speaking out about the fear of immigrants and undercover terrorists on American soil, who took the Rorschach as their primary inspiration, but brought in a black protagonist as the story’s main heroine. An incredible and courageous series.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)

After getting noticed in the solo films of ‘Captain America’ and ‘Avengers’, Sam Wilson won his own series, alongside his partner Winter Soldier, who served nothing more, nothing less than a kind of transition to make the Falcon the Captain America. ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ ​​is packed with action, hard-hitting scenes, and touches on tricky themes at times, standing out with one of Marvel’s best productions in the series released on Disney+.

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