How can Black Panther avoid the sophomore slump

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BEVERLY HILLS, CA – JANUARY 30: (L-R) Actors Winston Duke, Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B. Jordan, Chadwick Boseman, Angela Bassett, and Forest Whitaker, director Ryan Coogler, President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige, and moderator Nischelle Turner attend the Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER Global Junket Press Conference on January 30, 2018 at Montage Beverly Hills in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Continue to inspire

Lastly, my favorite part of Black Panther; the symbolism. Throughout the movie, the message of togetherness as a community was one of the takeaways. Even when Killmonger was talking about arming the world, it wasn’t a black issue. Killmonger wanted to arm people all over the world and give them an opportunity to fight back and rise up against their oppressors.

Director Ryan Coogler did a fantastic job showing what a community of people can do when they’re on the same page. I left the movie inspired. I left thinking about how great it could be if we supported each other in our endeavors. Wakanda is a nation without jealousy. Everyone helps one another to achieve their goals. There was no community above the other. It was great seeing M’Baku at the end of the movie in the room with the rest of the Wakandan council.

Maybe the most important is the message that young boys and girls can now look at these characters and take what they saw and make them better. Erik Killmonger may have been wrong, but he shows that with hard work, you can go from nothing to challenging a king. Okoye showed that even bald women are beautiful. It may even inspire some women to shave their heads. And T’Challa showed that you can break from tradition if it means you doing the right thing.

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Keeping the positive messages and symbolism of this movie may be the most important thing to keep Black Panther successful.

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