Marvel is about to kick off the cinematic superhero year in a massive way with Ryan Coogler's Black Panther. The highly anticipated feature has been years in the making for the studio, but its arrival is a celebration for fans of the African superhero king who have been following his story since 1966. But whether you're familiar with the Wakandan native's numerous adventures or have only just started following the tale, Black Panther promises to be a compelling, action-packed, progressive movie that will be a game-changer for the MCU going forward.

Today, we're thrilled to share with you a collection of everything we learned about the production during our visit to the set last year. Surprisingly, a lot of this need-to-know information has yet to make its way into the marketing, so there are plenty of riches to be found here. If you're especially into the look of Black Panther, you're going to love this deep dive into the film's production design and incredible costuming. If you're here for character relationships, we have a breakdown of some of the main players and how they factor into the story. And this is all just the tip of the iceberg since we'll have more detailed articles arriving in the hours, days, and weeks ahead!

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Image via Marvel Studios

Perhaps the most important thing to know is that Black Panther will arrive in theaters at long last on February 16th. For 89 more things to know about the production, read on:

  • Black Panther will pick up where events of Captain America: Civil War left off with T'Challa dealing with his father's death, what that means for Wakanda, and how to balance his responsibilities as a king and ruler with those of being a superhero in the world at large.
  • Not everyone in Wakanda is okay with T'Challa being king and Black Panther; that tension drives a lot of the movie's plot.
  • Producer Nate Moore described Black Panther as part globe-trotting, James Bond-type movie, and part Godfather-type, family focused film.
  • Some screen time will be dedicated to showing T'Challa's life before becoming the Black Panther.
  • A big part of the film is dedicated to the Dora Milaje, how they work, and their role in Wakanda. Don't expect their ceremonial betrothal to the Black Panther to be a part of this movie, however.
  • Moore compared the political tone and statement of Black Panther to that of Captain America: The Winter Soldier in how they're both inherently political without being too preachy or on the nose about it.
  • The "comedic" tone of Black Panther is more in line with Winter Soldier than Guardians of the Galaxy or Ant-Man, says Moore.
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    Moore also described Shuri, the 16-year-old sister of T'Challa who's head of the Wakanda Design Group, as being "the smartest person in the world, smarter than Tony Stark." She sort of acts as Q to T'Challa's James Bond, providing gadgets and know-how to assist in his duties. One of those gadgets is an updated costume.
  • Expect to see Wakanda's wealth and futuristic technology on display in grand fashion.
  • Black Panther mythology like the heart-shaped herb and the Panther Gods will make an appearance in the film as well. The contrast between Wakanda's technological superiority against their ancient ritual practice and religious beliefs will also be explored.
  • You can assume that the Winter Soldier is still on ice for this movie.
  • Black Panther doesn't rely on other plot points in the MCU, but what happens in this film will certainly effect the MCU going forward, according to Moore.
  • Don't expect a world-ending villain or threat in Black Panther; instead, it'll be a more personal enemy with a pointed goal.
  • This version of the Black Panther story was inspired by both Christopher Priest and Ta-Nehisi Coates' comic book runs. Brian Stelfreeze's artwork also directly inspired the look of Wakanda and the nation's technology.
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    The movie will explore the public face of Wakanda and the real truth that's hidden behind the curtain, as well as how the ability to protect their resources from the rest of the world has allowed them to flourish. Expect to see the different districts and regions within the nation as the intent is to show a lived-in world full of different tribes with different ways of life.
  • The movie's version of the controversial character M'Baku envisions him as the leader of the Jabari people and the religious minority in Wakanda,
  • When it comes to action, expect fighting styles, weapons, and vehicles you've never seen in an MCU movie before.
  • The MCU could have visited Wakanda earlier, as early as Iron Man 2, but the creative team didn't want to explore the nation and its culture and technology until they had a full idea of what exactly that looked like.

Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa, a.k.a. Black Panther

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Image via Marvel Studios
  • At the outset of the movie, T'Challa is still dealing with civil unrest and mourning the death of his father, so expect more political conflict than superheroic beat-em-ups in the early going.
  • That mourning comes as part of T'Challa's ascension to the throne of Wakanda, something he's been groomed for his entire life.
  • We'll see a slightly different Black Panther in this movie than in Captain America: Civil War. Now that the title character is in his natural environment and surrounded by friends and family, you can expect him to loosen up a bit.
  • Boseman trained with Marrese Crump to stay in fighting shape between Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther.
  • Boseman made special mention of the strong women in the movie and the equally strong and varied roles that they play, like Letitia Wright who "makes you happy as soon as you see her," and her character Shuri, T'Challa's little sister; Angela Basset, who is a strong role model both on-screen and off, and plays a mother who's much more than a figurehead; and the way that Lupita Nyong'o and Danai Gurira brought creative challenges and solutions to the production.
  • If you were hoping to see some romance for T'Challa in Black Panther, you might just be in luck ...

Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger

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  • Neither Jordan nor Killmonger see his character as a just a villain, but rather "somebody you guys can root for." In fact, he sees Killmonger as "a revolutionary."
  • Killmonger is also a cerebral, patient villain, a strategic one.
  • Jordan was brought onto the production a little later than the core cast. This actually played to his strengths as an actor and character since he's supposed to be in conflict with the heroes. Jordan actually kept to himself on set for this reason.
  • Jordan says Coogler's action scenes tell a story with each punch, as if there's a dialogue that exists within the fight scenes.
  • When it comes to stunts, Jordan wanted to do as much of his own practical work as possible. The one exception? Jumping out of a five-story building; he leaves that to the professionals.

Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia

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  • Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong'o was a bit cagey when it came to details about her character, Nakia, but she did reveal that she's a War Dog, a sort of Wakandan CIA member who travels the world and reports back to her home country to keep them safe and informed.
  • From costume designer Ruth E. Carter, we learned that "she starts out as a War Dog, coming from Nigeria. She’s fighting for young Nigerian women who are captured by the mean guys who are militants that capture women and put them into slavery." She also hails from the River Tribe.
  • Expect Nakia's role, and that of other women in Black Panther, to be deepened as a bit of a departure from the pages of Marvel Comics.
  • Though the film is predominantly in English, Nyong'o had to learn the Hausa language for certain scenes.
  • Nyong'o describes Nakia as determined and methodical.
  • Nakia's fighting style is informed by "judo, ju-jitsu and silat, and Filipino martial arts," which Nyong'o had to train in.
  • Nyong'o liked having Coogler's "fighter's mentality" on set to put her in Nakia's headspace during action scenes.
  • Danai Gurira's Okoye is the head of the Dora Milajae and is, in a sense, Nakia's boss.

Martin Freeman as Everett Ross

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  • Though he was introduced in Captain America: Civil WarMartin Freeman's CIA agent Everett Ross gets to play on a bigger stage in Black Panther.
  • Don't expect Ross to be a bumbling bureaucrat; he's a very capable agent who specializes in diplomacy between some of the most powerful entities in the world. That doesn't mean he might not have a sense of humor to him, but Ross isn't there for comic relief.
  • Ross is also not afraid to, or incapable of holding his own in a scrap. Expect to see him right alongside the superheroes when the action ramps up.
  • Ross finds himself in an interesting position in Wakanda on two fronts: He's used to dealing with superheroes, so he's more exasperated by the Wakandans' distrustful nature than dumbfounded by their technology. He's also caught between his loyalties to the C.I.A. and his respect for the isolated and protected civilization.
  • When it comes to Ulysses Klaue, Ross aims to keep his friends close and his enemies closer. If he keeps tabs on Klaw, he has access to information from all over the world while also knowing just where things are about to heat up.
  • Expect Ross and T'Challa to spend a fair amount of time sizing each other up to see just how much they can trust each other.

Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue a.k.a. Klaw

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  • Serkis originally found himself invited to the MCU by Joss Whedon in Avengers: Age of Ultron since Serkis' performance-capture company was working with the production.
  • Since the events of that 2015 film, Klaw has "basically been causing mayhem in the world, on minor and major levels," according to Serkis.
  • In the MCU, Klaw is of South African descent, again, according to Serkis.
  • Expect to see a grounded character who has both a deadly and darkly humorous side.
  • Klaw is one of very few outsiders who have ventured into Wakanda and made it out alive, which makes him a source of forbidden knowledge and a very dangerous man.
  • Serkis and his co-star Martin Freeman from The Hobbit movies shared notes on director Coogler ahead of Serkis' arrival on set, praising him for giving his actors freedom.
  • The interrogation scene occurs in a front in South Korea, where Klaw was apprehended.
  • Klaw is quite brilliant when it comes to assembling weaponry and technology; expect to see him put that skill to good use.

Costumes by Ruth E. Carter

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  • This is the first time working in the Marvel Universe for the twice-Oscar-nominated Carter (Malcolm XAmistad).
  • Carter drew inspiration from not only the Black Panther comics, but also from all areas of Africa, in order to not focus on one specific look from one specific region.
  • Coogler shared a project bible with Carter that listed all of the Wakandan tribes and their origins to better guide the design process.
  • Carter had to keep practical considerations--ie, for stunt work--in mind when designing costumes, especially for characters like the Dora Milaje.
  • Here's how Carter brought a sense of power and strength to the Dora Milaje through their costuming: "We wanted to make them have more of a presence, more of a strength of authority. That they did have. They were badass chicks who were protecting the King, until T’Challa, being the Black Panther, is walking around in this skin suit. We didn’t want the guy in the skin suit walking around with the girls in the bathing suits. We developed more as a real warrior might be developed. Real warriors who need their arms protected and need to have shields, and armor, and weaponry and shoes – like they’re really going to go to battle. It took us some time to get there because, we all as women, want to be that girl who can fry up the bacon and do all the other stuff. But in the end, it’s got to feel empowering."
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    T'Challa's look is meant to convey a particular message: "We felt that in the typical sense of what happens in a throne room – you have the King and the crown and maybe, he’s head of the military. So we gave him two things: kind of an open sandal so that it felt like Africa, but he also wore a beautiful tailcoat. We gave him a lovely cloak adorned with Kente, and then we gave him military boot and pants. So he gives you two messages that he is princely, he is elegant but he is also the head of the military and we are in Africa."
  • Nakia's look is tough, earthy, and a little rugged in the beginning to signify her role as a war dog, but it solidifies into something more focused and multi-layered as the story progresses and as we learn more about the character.
  • Don't expect direct translations from the costumes in the comics--ie, the Dora Milaje and the War Dogs--since Carter wanted to bring audiences something new while also taking practical reasons into consideration.
  • The various tribes of Wakanda will be distinguished in part by their color palettes: "There are the River Tribe, which is green. There’s the Border Tribe, which is blue. There’s the Panther and the Royal Palace, which is black and royal purple. The Jabaris, which are wood. We had a very clear direction and that came from Ryan."
  • And textures as well: "River tribe, you know, the river and shells, we didn’t use shells with anyone else unless they were part of the river tribe, and that’s Nakia’s tribe. Border tribe is wood, and wood grain, and strength, and we have a character who we made all of his armor out of wood and there’s definitely - it’s all about textures. I worry a little that as we photograph lots of textures, sometimes you get a buzzing or sensation that happens on film with beads, you know. In African culture there’s tons of beads. Beads everywhere. I have beads everywhere. And so those kinds of textures are throughout the film. And then some new things that we have created, because I feel like it’s a mix of old tradition and new. So there’s some foiling that’s happening, and there’s some Miyake style pleating that’s happening, too."
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    Carter and her team were given creative control over the design without having to worry about too many motion-capture suits for computer-generated elements: "Pretty much I haven’t been asked to give anyone a blue suit. At most, I’ve been asked to give someone a sleeve with a blue band on it so they could remove something."
  • During the CIA black site interrogation scene, the characters of T'Challa, Nakia, and Okoye may be wearing clothes that look quite normal in the world outside of Wakanda, but their design still carries the trends from their Wakandan costuming.
  • The Dora Milaje's costumes include, primarily, the color red to represent a number of African cultures and also their comic book origins, along with a beaded tabard that has talismans for protection, good spirit, and good luck, and a sense of ownership, as if the costume could be handed down from mother to daughter.
  • Whether costume design or production design, attention was paid to make sure Wakanda looked futuristic, but not alien.
  • Wakanda is a barefoot culture, with three out of every five people going barefoot; that factored into the costuming decisions.
  • Carter used real-world locations as short-hand for the different districts of Wakanda in order to inform their costumes: " So I said Step Town was like Brooklyn. Or NYU. And then I’d say another district was like the Upper West Side, where there’s more families and it’s more settled down, but it’s still New York. I used Manhattan, basically, as my way of remembering how I was going to view different parts of Wakanda. And it kind of did make sense, you know. There’s an area that’s mainly medical, so I was like, yeah, that’s like UCLA medical area. You know, you get into some of those communities and it’s all the doctors and people walking around. There’s different district of Wakanda."

Production Design by Hannah Beachler

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  • To find the look of Wakanda, production designer Hannah Beachler and her team explored African culture, landscapes, and design in order to infuse them with cutting-edge technology.
  • Producer Nate Moore refers to their vision of Wakanda as "a love letter to Africa" because it pulls from so many different countries and cultures.
  • Beachler was the production designer on Coogler's previous films, Creed and Fruitvale Station, so they have a short-hand that makes things easier.
  • Beachler attributed T'Challa's wealth--which is greater than that of Batman, in her words--to Vibranium: "T'Challa is the wealthiest man ... and a lot of it is because of the vibranium and their knowledge and being able to handle vibranium."
  • The look of Wakanda includes a focus on vibranium technology and the source of the rare metal: "So we do have over here our Wakandan design group, which has over time evolved into where all the tech is being created. [And] we've got our vibranium mine, which is – we've come up with this sort of blue, kind of glowing rock. We went around a lot about like, what is vibranium, because we see it in Cap's shield and it's very much a metal, so we have different stages of vibranium. We're going to see it a lot in its raw form, not the alloyed form which is sort of the stainless look."
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    A big theme of the design of Black Panther exists at the interface of the old and the new. One surprising example of this was sand: "Their sand is a lot of their technology, and we took that a lot from the use of sand divination in a lot of the different African cultures - again, mixing the old and the new. So there's a lot of fun stuff going on in there.
  • Speaking about Shuri, Beachler said the character's artistic ability informed her space, located on Mount Bashenga, every bit as much as her technological know-how: "And she also likes to do some graffiti, so you'll see a lot of her graffiti up on the walls and in her main computer."
  • Expect to see some interesting vehicles, like a vibranium train, in Black Panther: "You'll see the Royal Talon Fighter, which is the king's ship. He's got his talon fighters that escort it, sort of like Air Force One. Then next to that is the Dragon Flyer with the sort of wings that – you know, it was interesting. Ryan was in Africa way back in February, I believe, and he called me and said, 'Oh, I saw this really great, this peafowl' - which is a lot like a peacock - and he's like, 'That's it! That's the Royal Talon Fighter.' We went through a lot of iterations and we ended on this idea of like a mask. So when you look at the top of it, it looks like a mask, it looks like a mask from the bottom, the Royal Talon Fighter. But we went and we started off with the peafowl for the Dragon Flyer and it became its own thing and it started looking like a dragonfly. So that name just came up because of the way that it looked. We're like, 'Yeah, it's a Dragon Flyer.'
  • Beachler and her team also wanted to explore more ancient parts of Wakanda to tie into the nation's history and the plot itself: "Warrior Falls, which also speaks to the City of the Dead, and the Hall of Kings, which is gonna be a nice texture to see because we do go back to the ancient. Warrior Falls is where they fight and that's in the comic. But it's this natural falls, sort of, and when they open it up you see there's a cliff ledge, there's all these people that come out into the cliff ledge. They take their boats there, obviously with the panthers – we'll have lots of awesome panthers all over the place."
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    As important as the different regions of Wakanda are, so too are the different tribes that populate the nation: "Each tribe has their own sigil, which you'll see in the Throne Room, the tribal council. But they each have their own identifier for their tribe. So with the Border Tribe, it's horsemen, which is after the Lesotho in South Africa. The Merchant Tribe is a symbol that we took from some language from Nigeria. And so we sort of did that. The Golden Tribe is the sun, and we used what is - a lot of the symbols for sun in a lot of the African tribes is kind of the same, so we sort of went there. But that's the older texture."
  • Speaking of tribes: "The Border Tribes, which is the front for Wakanda, what people outside of the world, in our world, will see of Wakanda, is your traditional huts, your traditional Lesotho huts, your traditional mud huts.
  • There's a really interesting wrinkle to this particular tribe though, as Beachler explains: "One different thing is that they raise rhinos. I spent a month in South Africa and South Korea, and Ryan and I actually got to see - it was like 200 feet away - this giant white rhino named M20. There was another one, another male, named Satan [laughs] and we just - they're like, 'Satan's right around the corner,' and I'm like, 'Well, we should be in the car. [Laughs] Because that's where I want to be right now.' So pull around the corner and we see this magnificent animal out in the middle. And the first thing Ryan does, because he's such an adventurer, is hop out of the car. The guide was like, 'You know, he can be over here in four seconds from 200 feet away.' And he's like, 'Well, what - come over here, what will he do?' And the guide said, 'Well, he'll put his three-foot horn through the door and flip the car like a matchbook.' So we all got back in the car [laughs] and we found it very comforting to take pictures from that distance away. But he really loved that, and he was like, 'M20, we just gotta have that, we just gotta have that.' So that's being incorporated in a really fun way."
  • Another specific area Beachler brought to life was The City of the Dead and how it ties into the Black Panther mythology: "We wanted to bring in this idea of Angkor Wat. We wanted to bring in this sort of like very low-tech, a lot of fire. You really see that's where all our ancestors are. You see a lot of masks, all the panther masks, and you see how they do a lot of their rituals as far as the heart-shaped herb, which you will see, and it will be fabulous and wonderful. [Laughs] And then also the dream states that he goes into when he meets the ancestors."
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    Another region is the capital of Wakanda, the Golden City, and its mix of high technology with tradition: "We did a lot of work on this look and this set, again, mixing the traditional with the new. So you'll see in this city a lot of, like, thatched roofing on skyscrapers. You'll see all of the flying vehicles. You'll see the all of the hovercrafts that we're doing. Everything is maglev. So we're really excited about bringing that technology in. And it's really not unreachable technology. A lot of the things that we're doing is things that they're foreseeing 25 to 30 years as being something that we'll all be able to experience. I think that's a lot of the fun thing about this film, is that it's not far off. You can look a lot of it up and see that it's there in the conceptual ideas and designs that people are bringing, and we just are going to take it and show people, like, this is how it can be incorporated into a society. So it's super fun in that way. That's a lot of what we're doing with Golden City and its look. A lot of Afropunk. We want to bring in idea that we're using tattoos and all of these things as a way to communicate wearable technology. The Kimoyo beads that I think everybody will be excited to see in how we handle that, and still incorporating the sand as their main technology that the princess developed. So there'll be a lot of fun story points about that."
  • Another region, known as Gorilla City, is the Jabari region, led by M'Baku: I think one of my very, very favorites is Jabari land. We decided - and again, Ryan and I, we've had so much fun in discovery here, because he was like, 'What about snow?' And we were talking on the phone for a couple months before we really got on the ground. It's like, 'Snow? In Africa? What are you talking about?' I start looking up pictures and seeing lions with snow. Who would have thought? And then months later, here we are, standing 7,000 feet up in snow in South Africa, so that was great. And he's like, 'What if the Jabari, instead of' - 'cause we started out putting them down in the rainforest - and he said, 'What if they were in the mountains in the snow?' 'Okay, we're going to do this. We're going to do snow.' And we have been doing it, and it's been fabulous. So we put Gorilla City up in the snow, in the mountains, to help isolate them a little bit. And it's all wood, so we've been really working with how we can come up with the tradition and the technology outside of using the vibranium for the Jabari."
  • The central throne room is a stunning piece of work that acts as a center-point for all of Wakanda's many tribes and their many outlooks on the future of the nation: "The Throne Room ... we worked really hard on that design. I wanted it to be intimidating, in a way that you may not want to be standing there. So it was like, 'What if we hung spears?' It started out with spears and they're all pointing at you and then at the back we have M'Baku, and you're like, 'Okay, this is a little intimidating.' We turned them into giant logs with spear points pointing at you. So that was one fun thing. I don't want to give everything away, so I'm going to let your mind go with that. But it is a wood society. There's a healing hut."
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    Not everything in Black Panther takes place in Wakanda. The team traveled to South Korea for inspiration for their casino scene and the action sequence that exists outside of it: "All of this will be practical. The fish market, which is Jagalchi Fish Market, when we were in South Korea, again. Ryan's really good for this, and he really spurs me along. As much as I'd like to be like, 'Well, I did it all,' he really comes up with these ideas. So here we're standing in Jagalchi Fish Market in South Korea after having scouted many, many really beautiful hotels there to shoot this casino scene. And he says to me, he pulls me aside, he's like, 'What if it's an underground casino, that they walk through this fish market and you walk into this really beautiful casino?' And I just looked at him, I said, 'That's it. [Snap] We're done.' I just took out my iPhone and started making notes about what this place should look like, sent it straight to the illustrators, and said, 'Let's get going. This is going to be tons of fun.' I'm super excited about it. So it's our high-end illegal casino, which will be tons of fun, because there's tons of action in it. I was like, 'It has to be as beautiful as possible, so we can completely destroy it.' Nothing more exciting than seeing something so beautiful just destroyed with gunfire and fighting. So that's going to be a ton of fun.
  • The architecture of the late Zaha Hadid inspired Beachler, as did the traditional design of buildings she saw in her travels to numerous places throughout Africa.
  • Keep an eye out for circular themes throughout the design of Black Panther since it conjures up a feeling of transmission of energy.
  • A lot of the design elements are also sonic in nature, intended to transmit vibrations like the vibranium itself, but also as vibrational sound waves through air allow for communication.
  • In order to soften and reduce some of the more cavernous spaces in Black Panther, especially for more intimate moments of dialogue between characters, Beachler brought in natural elements like earth, mud, sand, and jungle plants. This provides a nice contrast against the glass and metal used in the design of more technology-based settings.
  • Also keep an eye out for a famous real-world location from Africa that will make an appearance in Black Panther that could give a better idea of where exactly Wakanda is located.

For even more, be sure to check out these recent reports from our visit to the set of Black Panther:

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