M'Baku is a troll.

M'Baku is the BIGGEST troll.

And Shuri is a memelord.

I haven't seen Black Panther yet but Civil War is on tv and I have been switching between that and Olympics and Mom is getting into it.

She really needs to watch it but at one point she was got kinda upset "doesn't he have a name?" (Meaning Sam). When I said Sam she was like...no does he have a special name too? I told her Falcon she was happy.

It's interesting to me that for all that we've had multiple movies with Asgard's cosmology plus the other dimensions in Dr. Strange, this is the first movie that actually showed a spiritual afterlife in the MCU. It makes me wonder what Bast is in relation to "gods" like the Asgardians. (Also Hanuman I guess; isn't he supposed to be a south Asian deity from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism rather than an African one? Or are they using Robert E. Howard's version from the Conan stories?)

Was there anything in the movie itself that said Shuri was T'Challa's half-sister?

Hanuman is definitely a monkey god, so I can see done kind of cross-cultural theology going on there.

I do not recall Shuri being specifically mentioned as a half-sister in the film, no.

And Shuri is a memelord.

WHAT ARE THOOOOOOOOOSE?

Ahhhh all the feels. All of them. I totally cried at Killmonger's death. His last line was brutal. . I saw it with the local Geek Girls Brunch group; there were 16 of us and I think 2/3 were WOC. For one it was already her fourth viewing! Everything was amazing - the world-building, costume design, music, subversion of various tropes I hate and was braced for like the girlfriend being kidnapped. The movie opens with it and it's a fake out, kind of like that scene with Black Widow .

Also, I want all of Shuri's clothes. And some of Nakia's.

Glorious.

WHAT ARE THOOOOOOOOOSE?

She is the absolute BEST.

Fivethirtyeight has an article touting Shuri as being the most important character in the film. (As well as being the funniest character and stealing every scene she's in.) [link] Basic thesis being the aspirational possibilities of having a kick-ass black woman functioning as a role model in a STEM field.

I was particularly impressed by all the design elements, this has to be one of the most visually spectacular MCU films so far. Some of the work was just amazing. (The tipping point on this thought was actually M'Baku's throne room.) I'm sure a huge number of African influences went over my head, but Ryan picked up on one in particular. Last year he did a class project on adobe buildings, including the Great Mosque of Djenné. He could see that there were skyscrapers in Wakanda that were studded with posts in much the same fashion. (I was particularly taken with the dragonfly aircraft, especially when they were parked hanging onto the edge of the pit.)

I can't make much sense of Wakanda's economy, though I figure they have to be managing under-the-radar trade in vibranium. I'm more concerned about its political system, which frankly seems to be a recipe for mismanagement and corruption. There's a huge risk of that to begin with in an economy that's dominated by a single primary resource whose supply is easily controlled by the government. And then the system of government is a monarchy, which is a real lottery as to the quality of rulers it throws up - not much protection against the stupid or venal. But that's ok, because there's a mechanism to change the ruler if he proves unworthy. All you need to do is defeat him in hand-to-hand combat. Because a great way to ensure wise rulership is to select for a talent for violence. I can't help feeling that the place has just been incredibly lucky to make it this far without becoming a plutocracy.

I watched the first season of Legion.

Watching it again.

If Cary died, I wonder if Kerry would become the dominant and absorb him, and it would be Kerri/Cary Instead of Cary/Kerri thus "saving" his life.

Dan Stevens makes me think of a younger House, which makes sense since he is a brit playing American.

Rachel Keller could be Gillian Jacobs younger sister.

Aubrey Plaza is a hoot.

Also, I found out Aubry's character was originally written for a man, and a lot of the dialogue was not changed.