The Marvel Comics character Black Panther is getting his own animated show on the BET network. This was announced during the BET upfront presentation in New York for the 2008-2009 season.The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (who co-created most of the classic Marvel Comics line up) and first appeared in Fantastic Four #52 in 1966. The character's real name is T'Challa and he is the ruler of a fictional African country called Wakanda. His name predates the existence of the Black Panther Party.
There have been a few attempts to bring the character to the movie screen, one in particular in the early 1990's starring Wesley Snipes. In 2007, Marvel announced that a film based on the character was on its movie development slate.
He's a minor character as far as the Marvel universe goes, but he is the most visible black superhero they have. He has appeared in several other animated Marvel television shows before, but not in a main role.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-19-2008 @ 11:26AM
joann McIntyre said...
By calling BP a "minor" anything it shows you have not read the book in the last 2 years. His charther married STORM (of a little group known as the X-men) a year or so ago. This coupling makes them one of the most powerful couples in the Marvel world. Don't mean to come off as a fanboy(42 year old Black woman), but throw away comments like that are the reason in TV history we have only had 2(TWO) black couples have a MAJOR wedding on TV.(good times,Diffarent world). Read the TP of their story , and see what I am talking about.
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4-19-2008 @ 1:08PM
ged said...
I agee. The reason there have only been two black weddings in TV history is because TV Squad referred to a minor character as a minor character one time. I'm disgusted.
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4-19-2008 @ 2:18PM
Ash said...
Yeah, that was a dumb throwaway comment, especially considering Storm is one of the biggest Marvel heroes out there.
However, the overall point is valid. I can't think of any major black heroes, or characters, other than Storm. There are some minor ones: the female Capain Marvel, who actually led the Avenegers for a little while, Power Man (horrible name), Misty Night (umm... no comment), Sunspot from the (old) New Mutants, some minor villains. Haven't followed comics in a long time, though, so maybe there are others out there.
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7-19-2008 @ 9:20PM
Frank Wrench said...
How about Green Lantern? (John whatever from the Justice League series)
4-19-2008 @ 2:51PM
Frank Wrench said...
And yes I know he's from DC, I didn't know if you meant just Marvel.
4-19-2008 @ 3:40PM
LC said...
Just to nit pick a little, Sunspot was a South American.
Power-Man was a dumb name, which is why he goes by the name Luke Cage now. I can't remember the last time he was called Power-Man (Thank God). He has been put on the top tier recently in the Marven Universe, with his leadership of the New Avengers.
4-19-2008 @ 2:32PM
Sam said...
I'd also like to add that Luke Cage has been playing an increasingly more visible role in the Marvel Universe over the past year or two.
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4-19-2008 @ 2:52PM
Miles said...
I'm so glad BET finally decided to use their broadcast signal to pick up a good black show. It seems the only time they use their money on original shows , is when its a knock off of a show on MTV.
Though i don't like it that much , that show MMA show about the rappers becoming team owners of Mixed Martial Arts fighters is also a step in the right direction. Original content that you can't find on every other channel. I hate how they call themself Black Entertainment TV when all they do is show music videos and gospel .
When The Boondocks showed up on Cartoon Network a buddy of mine and I knew BET was too crappy to even consider picking it up. Its about damn time they stuck their neck out .
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4-19-2008 @ 6:56PM
ac said...
While its not original programing you have to give them credit for picking up reruns of The Wire.