Abstract

The origin of Black Panther 's charismatic villain, Killmonger, is the same as that of the historic Black Panther Party: Oakland, California. Director Ryan Coogler begins the film here, in a housing project where N'Jobu, a prince from Wakanda, has been living undercover. Black Panther first appeared in Marvel Comics in the summer of 1966, a few months before the official founding of the Black Panther Party. Killmonger's grudge against Wakanda for ignoring and rejecting him is one that nearly every Black citizen could fairly hold against the United States. Wakanda abandons its traditional separatist position to follow the historical Black Panther Party's lead, pivoting from using the tools of modern warfare to protect Wakandans to channel its energy into uplifting social programs around the world, starting with the neighborhood in Oakland where the orphaned Killmonger grew up.