On June 23 the King of Wakanda will make his solo animated debut in Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther? Marvel stated in a press release that the twelve episode series is said to be inspired by the graphic novel written by Reginald Hudlin with art by John Romita Jr. The episodes will debut weekly and be available for download on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, iTunes, and Microsoft Zune starting this Wednesday.
Back in 2008, Marvel and BET announced that the Black Panther animated series would debut on their network in 2009, however the year came and went with no Black Panther series in sight. Which is a bit odd, because at the time Hudlin was pulling double duty as President of Entertainment at BET and also writing the Black Panther for Marvel Comics. However, we know the news that many fans want to know about when it comes to any animated series besides the actual art is who is going to be the voice cast bringing some of their favorite characters to life. Well, starring as the Black Panther will be Djimon Honsou (Amistad, Gladiator), singer and poet Jill Scott (Why Did I Get Married) will voice Storm, Princess Shuri will be voiced by Kerry Washington (Fantastic Four, I Think I Love My Wife), and even Stan “The Man” Lee will play a role.
Excerpt from Marvel’s press release:
The positive responses to news of the show have been so overwhelming, it’s great to finally make the Black Panther series available to everyone,” said Hudlin. “Audiences get caught up on many levels – seeing John Romita Jr’s art come to life; the quality of the voice work by an award winning cast; the boldness of the politics, the music and humor. But see it for yourself!”
Who Is The Black Panther? was the first six issues of Hudlin’s run on Black Panther vol 4, and it was a story that he and Romita Jr. received well deserved praise for. It’s a telling of the Black Panther’s history from the WWII era up to the current (at that time it was T’Challa) Black Panther, and how outside forces were attempting to invade and rob Wakanda of its most precious mineral: Vibranium, a near indestructible metal with incredible amplification properties. In that story we get to see the first meeting between Captain America and T’Challa’s grand father, which is also the basis for Hudlin’s four issue mini-series Captain America/Black Panther: Flags Of Our Fathers, currently out now. We are also introduced to the man who killed T’Challa’s father: Klaw, in his attempts to obtain the Vibranium from the warrior nation. There is also an aspect of political intrigue, as Wakanda is an isolationist nation that refuses to have extensive dealings with the outside world and outsiders are not welcome. However, this task is becoming harder and harder to maintain as the decades pass.
This introduction to the Black Panther seems like a perfect story to bring in new fans and please old fans alike. Add to that the amount of star power behind the characters bringing Hudlin and Romita Jr.’s story to life; it is just icing on the cake! So get ready for the first episode available for download on PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, Zune, and iTunes on June 23rd, and find out who is the Black Panther!
For more information on the new series check here and also here.
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There’s still a BET? And it gets new programming? Who knew? 🙂
A new Marvel cartoon on BET isn’t exactly the combination I was expecting.
The series will be strictly available for download though Kris not on BET i guess that fell through at some point. I’m actually glad it’s not exclusively on that network but that’s due to my own personal opinions about BET and the programming.
It’ll probably end up on DVD and Bu Ray sometime soon as well but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Oh I see. I misunderstood. Maybe it will end up on TV at some point (not necessarily on BET), if the download sales do well.
I had thought this was a sort of…here is the first episode on download, the show will premiere on TV later. That sort of thing. Didn’t realize it was ONLY digital.
I’m ready for this! I’ve been waiting to watch this on BET. Wondered whatever happened to it. Ha! Now I know! And knowing is half the battle!
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29 bucks, though. I may hold out and hope for a DVD!
I though about using my extra MS Points to just dl the series to my Xbox but I’d actually need another hard drive because the one I have is just about full now. So the DVD was looking to be my choice but I just hate the wait