Written by: James Barnes

It's been a week since Black Panther has been in theaters and some viewers have said that the film was really good but "over-hyped". Although all film is subjective I think the hype over the film is warranted and let me explain why.

The film has been smashing box office records since it's release. The film captured the fifth biggest opening weekend in history making $202M domestically, The second biggest opening for a comic book movie, had the largest February opening weekend, and is the highest rated comic book movie on Rotten Tomatoes.

Box Office Mojo also reports they're anticipating only a 41% drop over the three-day weekend, looking to make around $120M, which would be the second largest second weekend ever and put the film's domestic haul right around $410M by the end of the day Sunday. Should it hit these marks it would also join Jurassic World as the second fastest to reach $400M.

Smashing records aside, there have been 18 films in the MCU including Black Panther and this is the first film in the MCU with a minority in the lead role. Not only is the lead and director African American, over 90% of the entire cast is African American, and the film takes place mainly in the African country of Wakanda. Lesser films would have found a way for the film to take place in America, but Kevin Feige and Ryan Coogler understood the importance of having the film take place in Wakanda.

Black Panther has already made $505M worldwide in just 6 days of release and it still hasn't opened in Japan or China which are 2 of the largest overseas markets, indicating that the film will easily join the billion dollar club.

The MCU has never had the best track record when it comes to their villains, besides Loki played by Tom Hiddleston but Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger is the best villain since Loki. I would compare Killmonger to Magneto in the sense that you agree with Magneto's motivations but not the way he goes about achieving those goals.

As a black man, it's nice to see another black man that isn't a drug dealer, a drug addict or a thug. This is a story about an African King in an untainted part of Africa (Wakanda) where we have wealth and knowledge that is decades ahead of every other country in the world. Seeing this made me proud of the heritage and I hope this opens the door for Hollywood to cast more minorities in lead roles because Black Panther has proven that movies with minority leads can be extremely profitable. These are the reasons why I think the hype around Black Panther is not only warranted but needed.

Is Black Panther being Over-Hyped?