NEW YORK: Advance ticket sales to Marvel’s “Black Panther” were outpacing all superhero movies on Fandango.
The online ticket service said that “Black Panther” was outselling its previous record-holder for presale, 2016’s “Batman v Superman.”
Following gushing early reaction from Monday night’s premiere, Ryan Coogler’s film is the top daily ticket-seller on Fandango.
“Black Panther” doesn’t open until Feb. 16, but anticipation is especially strong for the first superhero movie in years starring a black lead character.
The premiere in Los Angeles was attended by the film’s cast decked in regal African-themed attire. Analysts are forecasting a President’s Day weekend debut for “Black Panther” of at least $100 million in North America.
On Tuesday, “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman revealed that doubters had tried to convince him not to give the superhero an African accent — and how proud he was to prove them wrong.
Boseman was speaking at a Beverly Hills news conference along with director Coogler, co-stars Michael B Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira and the rest of the cast the morning after Monday’s glittering Hollywood premiere.
The 41-year-old American stars in the titular role in the 18th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — the first black superhero to get his own standalone movie.
“There was a time period where people would ask me questions about whether or not an audience could sit through a movie with a lead character that spoke with that accent,” Boseman said of the east African inflection he gives the superhero — alias King T’Challa.
“I became adamant about the fact that it’s not true,” he added, stressing that none of the naysayers had come from Marvel itself.
“The intonations and melodies inside an African accent are just as classical as a British one or a European one.”
The actor got his break after a decade as an obscure television and indie film actor when Marvel came calling in 2014 with a lucrative five-picture deal to play Black Panther.
His appearance in “Captain America: Civil War” (2016) brought Boseman his first taste of real fame and his celebrity looks set to skyrocket when “Black Panther” opens this month, followed in May by “Avengers: Infinity War.”
T’Challa, king and protector of the technologically advanced fictional African nation of Wakanda, has been characterized as the first black superhero, which is partly true.
Around 30 black characters have donned the lycra for the big screen since the early 1990s, including Marvel’s Falcon (Anthony Mackie since 2014), Wesley Snipes’s titular vampire hunter in “Blade” (1998) and Halle Berry’s Kenyan princess Storm in four “X-men” movies.
The Wakandan royal can claim to be the first black superhero to land a standalone movie in the MCU and the first in mainstream American comics, having been featured in “The Fantastic Four” in 1966.
Critical and celebrity reactions to “Black Panther” after Monday’s premiere were about as good as could be expected, with reviewers hailing the movie as “iconic” and “astonishing.”
Donald Glover, who is due to star as Lando Calrissian in the upcoming “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” called it “beautiful” while “Ant-Man” director Peyton Reed said it was “soulful, thoughtful and of the moment.”
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, who produces every MCU movie, agreed that the messages of the movie — which posits Wakanda taking in refugees and extending its culture and technology to poorer nations — were particularly topical, but added that most of the script was written 18 months ago.
Coogler and the producers came in for particular praise at the news conference for their decision to feature a clique of powerful female characters — dubbed “the badass women of Wakanda” front and center.
“I was so pleased that this story... that it supported that. In African culture, they feel as if there is no king without a queen and this story, it highlights the queen, the warrior, the general, the young sister,” said Angela Bassett, who plays T’Challa’s mother Ramonda.
“I was so proud to have my daughter and my son there last night, because in their faces, in their spirit, they were feeling themselves. They stood taller after last night.”
Gurira (“The Walking Dead“) spoke of her trepidation over having her head shaved to play Okoye, the head of Wakanda’s Dora Milaje special forces, but how she saw it as “subversive in the right way.”
“In theory, it sounded amazing, and then the day came... It happened. Then you walk into the restroom to wash your hands, look up like, ‘What the?’
“It took a few days... Then the pride started to grow, there’s pride around it, and the embracing of this symbol of power and these women.”
‘Black Panther’ presales outpacing previous superhero movies
‘Black Panther’ presales outpacing previous superhero movies
Viral phenomenon in Argentina has young people identifying themselves as animals
- As the movement gains traction, psychologists are stepping in to analyze the phenomenon and its place in public discourse
BUENOS AIRES: On a recent Sunday, a Buenos Aires plaza transformed into a makeshift wilderness for an unusual group of teenagers.
Sofía, wearing a lifelike beagle mask, ran across the grass on all fours. Nearby, 15-year-old Aguara leapt through the air, clearing an obstacle course while imitating the precise movements of a Belgian breed dog. Others dressed as cats and foxes perched in the branches of trees, keeping their distance from curious onlookers.
It was the latest gathering of “therians,” individuals who say they identify mentally, spiritually or psychologically with non-human animals. The trend has taken over Argentine social media over the past few months, gaining traction on platforms like TikTok, where the hashtag #therian has surpassed 2 million posts, with Argentina leading all other Latin American countries in engagement. The surge has drawn the attention of influencers and media outlets alike, sparking reactions that range from laughter and bewilderment to outright anger.
And as the movement gains traction, psychologists are stepping in to analyze the phenomenon and its place in public discourse.
Aguara, who claims to identify as a Belgian Malinois and counts her age as the equivalent of two years and two months in dog years, says she’s a lot like any other teenager.
“I wake up like a normal person and live my life like a normal person,” she said. “I simply have moments when I like being a dog.”
As the leader of what she calls her “pack,” Aguara — the name she identifies with — boasts more than 125,000 followers on TikTok and coordinates regular meetups around the Argentine capital.
Aru, a 16-year-old who wore a seal mask to the park meetup, said she considers herself part of the “otherpaw” branch of therians: individuals who wear masks and tails or move on all fours just for fun. “It’s not necessarily about identifying as an animal,” she said.
She reckons the therian trend took off in Argentina because of the country’s “fairly free” environment. For other young Argentines, the movement has provided a vital community where they can feel truly accepted.
Should parents be worried?
Débora Pedace, a psychologist and director of the Integral Therapeutic Center in Buenos Aires, acknowledged that the phenomenon generates a complex mix of confusion, laughter and even anger.
“From a psychological standpoint, this is a symbolic identification with an animal,” Pedace said. “It becomes pathological or alarming only when it turns into a deeply rooted belief and the person fully assumes the role of an animal, potentially leading to self-harm or hurting others.”
