Welcome to Flashback Friday: The Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this series you’ll get a discussion and brief review on some of your favorite Pops from the MCU. Here, we really appreciate the shared universe so the figures will come from film, television, and streaming. Black Panther from the Captain America: Civil War set is this week’s choice for discussion.
San Diego Comic Con has come and gone and I hope anyone that was trying to get their favorite exclusives got what they wanted. Anyways, I’m back with a new article which moves into the large Civil War set.
Discussion: Black Panther was introduced into the ever growing Marvel Cinematic Universe when he debuted in the 2016 global blockbuster Captain America: Civil War. Fans and critics alike not only loved the movie but were also very happy with the introduction of Black Panther. Chadwick Boseman brought a real elegance to the character and a viciousness when fully costumed. For the short amount of time and brief introduction of the character he made a real impact to the story. I’m looking forward to more character development, new team ups, and him taking on a leadership role within his country. The Black Panther has a bright future in the MCU with at least three upcoming films in the works.
As most of you know by now we can’t have an MCU film without an MCU Pop set to go along with it. The Captain America: Civil War set is one of the largest Marvel has to offer with twenty five Pops, three of which are Black Panther. There still could’ve been many more if they created unmasked versions of the characters. The set was missing General Ross, Ant-Man, and Baron Zemo. It’s very solid set but it does boggle my mind they gave us three Crossbones Pops when that character was in the movie very briefly. I would’ve liked to seen a battle damage Iron Man and Captain America. Hopefully we’ll see some variation in upcoming Black Panther Pops.
Black Panther was released in 2016 and was available at most stores that sell Funko products. I personally saw the Pop at Barnes and Noble, FYE, GameStop, Hot Topic, Target, and Walmart. If you’re looking to add this Pop to your collection you are in luck. This Pop has been consistently under $10.00 since its release. You may be able to find it in stores but you can definitely get it via Amazon, eBay, and our awesome Facebook group which can be found here. Definitely check it out for all of your buying, selling, and trading needs. I would guess that this Pop will stay relatively cheap for the foreseeable future unless he becomes mega popular from his upcoming film or he gets killed off in one of the Avengers films.
Description/Review: The bulk of the head is black with some subtle designs above the crystal like eyes and surrounding the mouth. Patterns encapsulate the mask. They could be tribal markings outlined in silver. The rest of the costume is completely black with silver outlines around both forearms and ankles. A tribal necklace surrounds the neck. Similar designs from the helmet can be found on the entire suit. The outlines again are very subtle and symbolic. Perhaps it represents a family history or story. Menacing and powerful are two great words that sum up the scope of the costume. Warrior exudes from the design and you can tell when Black Panther is in action there’s going to be some broken bones involved. Overall, it’s a great Pop that really captures the essence of the character. The other two Panther Pops look good as well and I’m sure they’ll be featured in a future flashback article.
What’s next? Black Panther can next be seen in his first solo film which debuts in North American cinemas in February 2018. You won’t have to wait long after that because he’s scheduled to appear in Avengers: Infinity War a few months later. He’ll follow that up with presumably Avengers 4 and Black Panther 2. There will be no shortage of Pops for this character over the next two years. Look for three or four for his solo movie and another one or two for each Avengers film.
What are your thoughts on Black Panther? Sound off in the comments section below.
Would you like to see a specific Pop in a future article? Post your choice in the comments section and you just might see your favorite character “Pop” up in the coming weeks.
Check back next week for another MCU flashback. Excelsior!
Matt Norris