NEW STORYTELLERS
What is, at the heart, of the success of Black Panther? The opportunity for marginalized groups to share their stories with the world their way.
It’s the same emotion many women felt in 2017 behind DC’s Wonder Woman. Simply put, when you pass the torch, hand people the reigns, or more importantly step out of the spotlight and into the audience you can give people a chance to be seen and let yourself simply enjoy an experience, learn, and be awed at the broader beauty that our world has to offer. It doesn’t diminish any other stories or previous incarnations of characters.
Marvel Studios’ path forward is new storytellers. Women and women and people of color are where the future of Hollywood and the future of culture lies. Marginalized groups writing their stories and putting their spin on classic tales is the only way forward for an industry that thrives on reboots and sequels. For Hollywood not to stagnate in a growing world market, it not only must employ new storytellers with new perspectives it must seek them out if it hopes to compete.
Hollywood will stagnate if it doesn’t tap into the wealth of opportunities that it has available to craft new stories. When you consider how this will shape the cultural landscape 10 years from now or even 20 how can you not be excited for what’s to come? What will kids, who grow up with these legends, who see themselves represented be able to create and what will other kids learn from these creations? Black Panther was a positive turn that hopefully will signal a powerful shift in the world of American entertainment to come and Marvel and Disney should build on that success.
This is just a small sampling of how Marvel could spin off new and different characters into the world. Do you have any you’d like to see? Are you dreaming as big as we are? Sound off and share your thoughts in the comments below.
Black Panther is currently in theaters.