Black Panther (2018) Script Review | #57 WGA 101 Greatest Scripts of the 21st Century

Exciting and packed with action, Black Panther shows how good superhero movies can be when done properly.

Logline: King T’Challa returns home from America to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country’s new leader. However, T’Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne by the mysterious Killmonger, who is prepared to drag Wakanda into a world war to carry out his ambitions.

Written by: Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole

Based on: Marvel Comics

Pages: 122

Black Panther offers a rare glimpse of how superhero stories on the big screen can feel both personal and grand instead of derivative. Even when it does inevitably succumb to the Act-3-Big-Battle syndrome that Marvel Studios is infamous for, writers Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole have spent so much time building up the personal relationships and characters that the stakes land harder than they would if, say, the fate of the universe is at stake.

In other words, it uses the tools of cinematic storytelling to tell an exciting story! When you consider the episodic nature that has been both the boon and bane of Marvel productions, it is a novelty that Black Panther is allowed to stand on its own without setting up sequels and whatnot instead.

The screenplay clocks at 122 pages, and it moves briskly. It opens with an animated sequence that establishes the origins of Wakanda, the role of the Black Panther, and why Wakanda remains hidden. It also has a personal tone because it is told by Prince N’Jobu as a story to his son, Erik “Killmonger” Stevens— the antagonist of this tale, but this will only be revealed by page 71 towards the Midpoint. After a brief prologue set in 1992 featuring King T’Chaka, the story picks up from where Captain America: Civil War left off. En route to Wakanda, Prince T’Challa, the new Black Panther, disrupts a band of human traffickers to pick up Nakia, a Wakandan spy and his ex-lover. He’s going to become king, and he wants her at the ceremony.

Here’s what is interesting from a structural point of view. The entirety of Act One is spent on T’Challa becoming king, only breaking off briefly on page 15-20 (the inciting incident) to meet Killmonger and Ulysses Klaue (last seen on Avengers: Age of Ultron) stealing Wakandan artifacts at the British Museum. Altogether, that’s about 18 pages devoted to T’Challa, Queen Ramonda, Shuri, Okoye, M’Baku, Nakia, and Zuri, plus Wakanda itself, a character of its own not dissimilar to how Gotham City functions in Batman’s world. These characters allow us to better understand T’Challa, the protagonist, from the eyes of his mother, sister, general, rival, and mentor. It also allows the reader to get immersed into this world—although light on description, you can believe on the page that this fictional technologically-advanced African city exists.

It's worth highlighting this because a lot of superhero features fail to remember that people are drawn to characters and not endless set-pieces. Yes, there are three action sequences in Act One (the human traffickers scene, the British Museum theft, and the fight at the waterfall), but all of these moments serve the characters. The traffickers scene shows Black Panther in combat and introduces us to Nakia; the British Museum theft introduces us to Killmonger as a formidable antagonist; and the fight at the waterfall establishes T’Challa as worthy to be king. They add excitement, but it is in the moments when the characters actually interact— such as Shuri teasing T’Challa, or T’Challa speaking to his father in the ancestral plane— that keeps us invested in this story about how difficult it is for a good man to be king.

When coming up with the story, Coogler and Cole drew not just from the Black Panther comic book runs by Ta-Nehisi Coates or Christopher Priest, but from The Godfather (1972) and James Bond. It’s easy to see the influences of the former— about family— but the globe-trotting nature of the latter makes its presence felt loud and keenly in Act Two. Alerted to the theft at the British Museum, T’Challa heads to Busan to personally apprehend Klaue, supplied with a new suit and tricks from the Q-like Shuri. An encounter with Everett Ross and a chase in the streets lead to the Midpoint, when Killmonger returns to the story and begins to make his presence felt. T’Challa learns the outcome of the prologue in 1992, and his father’s shameful deed, and is stunned. Things only go down from there as Killmonger arrives in Wakanda and makes a challenge for the throne. Having no choice but to agree, T’Challa accepts— and loses. Presumed dead, Queen Ramonda, Shuri, Ross, and Nakia flee, while Killmonger prepares to unleash the full force of Wakanda’s prowess on the world.

Every good superhero story needs a good antagonist. Batman and Spider-Man have thrived in the media because they have two of the best Rogue’s Galleries, and now Black Panther can claim a spot in the Villains Hall of Fame for Killmonger. Killmonger is deadly and his motive is flawed, but compelling: He wants to use Wakanda’s technology to empower the millions of oppressed black people in the world, especially in America, and take control. Although T’Challa also wants to spread Wakanda’s wealth, his approach is more cautious because he recognizes that such ambitions can go awry quickly. Naturally, the two clash in their philosophies.

But Killmonger also makes for a captivating antagonist because it is about something. His cause is not mindless, but rooted in a real problem. He also sees himself as the wronged party in the Wakandan family, and wants justice for his father. Even his goal to arm black people with Wakandan weapons is to avenge the centuries of colonialism that wreaked havoc in the African continent, not to seek power for the sake of power itself. In the end, both he and T’Challa are forced to pay for the sins of their fathers.

Through Killmonger, the script explores the relationship between Africa and African Americans. “African-American men feel disconnected from the continent and often our history is misrepresented. Frustration, anger, confusion – we wanted to explore what the dialogue between Africa and African-Americans is. Search through that terrain,” muses Cole. “We wanted to find a version of our antagonist that could really affect our protagonist in a meaningful, personal and emotional way. The best villains can really affect your hero. Making it family – what’s more personal than that?”

In trying to cram so much in 122 pages, there are some trade-offs. Some scenes feel rushed, and moments like T’Challa returning to his normal self and reuniting with his family teeter on corny and sentimental. Still, they are not enough to derail the story, and that’s what counts.

Another point worth noting is that although Killmonger is the primary antagonist, between his last appearance on page 20 and his reappearance on page 63, it takes nearly 43 pages to reintroduce him into the story. Klaue, the secondary antagonist, occupies the villain role until Killmonger is ready to take over the story. That frees up time and space for the protagonist, and saves the conflict for later when the stakes begin to climb. Pulling that off, however, requires a good secondary antagonist, and building in some mystery concerning the primary antagonist’s identity.

When Coogler and Cole began working on the screenplay, they had a lot of conversations about Wakanda—both as a concept and a cinematic world. Once they felt they were on the same page, Cole drew up a beat sheet so that he knew what he wanted to get on paper, and then wrote a vomit draft. In an interview, Cole states that the process took a significant amount of time as they were “world building.” (Coogler’s hiring was announced in January 2016 and filming began in 2017, giving the writers nearly a year to get the script right).

As for their process, Coogler and Cole weren’t always in the same room when working. “We Facetimed and sent stuff to each other,” said Cole. “[Coogler] would write the first act and then I would take a crack at 2a and we’d send them back and forth.” He praises his co-writer for a lack of ego and not pulling his director’s position to enforce hierarchy. Altogether, they wrote all the way through pre-production. Apart from the comic book and cinematic influences, Coogler and Cole also looked to their lives for inspiration. Particularly with the female characters, they leaned on the women in both their lives.

(Back in 2018, Coogler’s writing credit made him that rare Marvel director to be hands-on involved with the screenplay, joining the likes of Joss Whedon, Shane Black, Scott Derickson and James Gunn. Later, Nia DaCosta, Destin Daniel Cretton, Chloé Zhao, and Shawn Levy would be a part of that Marvel gang.)

The impact that Black Panther would have upon its release can be seen in its box-office returns (it is the sixth highest-grossing Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film to date with a worldwide total of $1.3 billion, and the third highest-grossing MCU film in US and Canadian territories), its accolades (seven Oscar nominations including Best Picture, becoming the first superhero film to be nominated, and three wins), and its cultural impact. But it always starts on the page. By blending in different pieces from the Black Panther comics, cinema, and their personal lives, Coogler and Cole have written a screenplay that feels personal, thoughtful, and fun. What better blueprint does a writer need to write the next great superhero story?

Notes:

Eells, Josh (26 February, 2018) | Ryan Coogler: Why I Needed to Make ‘Black Panther’ (Rolling Stone)

Riesman, Abraham J. (24 July, 2016) | Black Panther Director Ryan Coogler: Ta-Nehisi Coates Has ‘Absolutely’ Influenced the Movie (Vulture)

Edwards, Shanee (1 February, 2019) | 8 Big Takeaways from BLACK PANTHER Screenwriter Joe Robert Cole (Screencraft)

Rife, Katie (9 February, 2018) | Donald and Stephen Glover gave Ryan Coogler notes on Black Panther's script (AV Club)