Make sure you don’t watch the movie without it!

A IS FOR: ACCENTS

If like us, you find that ubiquitous ‘African’ hybrid accent in the movies that smashes West, East AND South African accents together a little distracting, you’ll be relieved to hear that Black Panther’s diverse cast deliver one Wakandan accent with lyrical Southern African inflections, elongated vowels and strong ‘R’s’ that all feel so natural and familiar.

B IS FOR: BASOTHO

Although Wakanda is a fictional place, director Ryan Coogler, his costume designer Ruth E. Carter and their teams ensured that everything else about it is very firmly rooted in real African cultures, peoples, ideals and practices. The Wakandan Border Tribe for example borrows heavily from the BaSotho people of the Kingdom of Lesotho. Basotho have lived in southern Africa since the 5th century. The BaSotho were principally herdspeople, and to this day using horses to navigate the mountainous terrain and wearing the distinctive wool Basotho Blankets (the Seanamarena) against the harsh climate.

Marvel Studios' BLACK PANTHER L to R: Shuri (Letitia Wright), Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o), Ramonda (Angela Bassett) and Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman) Credit: Matt Kennedy/©Marvel Studios 2018

black panther basotho horsemen

C IS FOR: COSTUME DESIGN

Black Panther’s Virbanium-infused costume and the all-female Dora Milaje royal guards’ continue reading at http://jviks.com/2018/03/01/blackpantheran-z-african-nuggets/