Is The Black Panther Marvel's Next Solo Movie?

If the rumours are to be true, then the unknown Marvel movie set for 2014 could be for The Black Panther. This makes me very excited as The Black Panther is a very cool character to bring to the big screen.

The comics were written by Stan 'The Man' Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby. He debuted in 1966 and was the first ever black superhero in mainstream American comics. If the film was to be made then this would be a first for a Marvel film to have a black character lead the show, rather than just having small parts like Samuel L Jackson and Don Cheadle have in the Marvel cinematic universe.

The origins of The Black Panther go like this; The Black Panther is the name given to the leader of the village of Wakanda. Wakanda is sitting on a large amount of Vibranium and over centuries other countries have tried and failed to invade Wakanda, every time being stopped by The Black Panther. The Black Panther has super strength, speed and stamina. These powers given to him by a special heart shaped herb. Present day's Black Panther is a man named T'Challa. Who, apart from having these super abilities, also has a PhD in Physics from Oxford University and is a trained gymnast. So this dude is pretty awesome! The idea of getting his super powers from a magical herb is slightly odd, but I'm sure that this will be written well enough to fit in to the Marvel cinematic universe.

The script is apparently being written by Mark Bailey who's recent work includes a load of documentaries.  So a strange choice but Marvel usually allow newcomers in to the picture and they haven't been wrong yet!

Though nothing is confirmed I reckon the director won't be an obvious choice when they come round to pick it. My card would be on somebody like Josh Trank (Chronicle) or Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond) to be given this role.

I also hope they go with less known lead. I would love to see John Boyega (Attack The Block) take the lead as he looks like a perfect fit for the character. Being relatively unknown will also help boost him to stardom. Though he is still quite young I think he would be an awesome T'Challa. Another person rumoured that would also be good is Adewale Akinnuoye-Abaje (Lost).

Nothing has been confirmed yet, but I think The Black Panther would be a great character to be given a solo film. Much better than the rumoured Dr Strange or Guardian Of The Galaxy movies, I just don't believe they would fit in. One things for sure, if Marvel do take a gamble on this one, then I will definitely be buying a ticket!

Thanks for reading!