SAN DIEGO – “Black Panther” stole the show Saturday night at Marvel Studios’ Comic-Con presentation, outshining the Ant-Man, Thor and even the ultimate Avengers team-up, “Infinity War.”
Fans went wild for the exclusive sneak peek at the upcoming superhero pic, featuring star Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa intercepting a sketchy vibranium trade between Andy Serkis’ Klaw and Martin Freeman’s Everett.
Set in an elegant, Japanese-inspired casino, the deal goes haywire and T’Challa and his security detail (Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira) jump to action in their evening gowns to retrieve the precious goods.
The clip was followed by the trailer for the film from “Creed” director Ryan Coogler and the 6,500 souls in the audience erupted into deafening cheers at the sight of T’Challa morphing into the Black Panther suit.
The film finds T’Challa returning to his home of Wakanda after the death of his father, the king.
“He’s still mourning his father’s death. It’s a transition period that gets interrupted, and he’s struggling with the type of king he wants to be,” said Boseman.
Coogler, Boseman, Nyong’o, Gurira, Serkis, and more of the cast were on hand in San Diego to talk about the film, out February 16, 2019.
Nyong’o described her character as a spy who goes undercover to report back to Wakanda about what is going on in the rest of the world.
“Wakanda is an isolated nation,” Nyongo said. “The world does not need to know what’s going on in Wakanda.”
Coogler said he’d always had a fondness for comic books, and found “Black Panther” at a pivotal moment. (AP)