''Black Panther'' is an American

motion comic A motion comic (or animated comic) is a form of animation combining elements of print comic books and animation. Individual panels are expanded into a full shot while sound effects, voice acting, and animation are added to the original artwork. Tex ...

and

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

Marvel Knights Animation Marvel Animation, Inc. is an American animation production company. The Marvel Studios subsidiary was incorporated on January 25, 2008 to direct Marvel's efforts in animation and home entertainment markets. The incorporated Marvel Animation incl ...

, based on the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

of the same name. It was the first animated television series produced by

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

since ''

Hey Monie! ''Hey Monie!'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Soup2Nuts. It features heavily improvised dialogue by the Second City cast, similarly to Soup2Nuts animated sitcom ''Home Movies''. Its creator and executive producer was Dorothea Gilli ...

''. Each of the six episodes of the series was 20 minutes in length. The series was broadcast on the Australian children's channel

ABC Me ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3. Hist ...

in January 2010 and in the United States on BET in November 2011.

Plot

Upon becoming the new

Black Panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...

after the assassination of his father

T'Chaka T'Chaka is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the father of T'Challa and Shuri. He was the king of Wakanda and Black Panther before T'Challa; he inherited both titles following the death of h ...

, T'Challa deals with the jealousy in the

Wakanda Wakanda () is a fictional country appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Wakanda has been depicted as being in East Africa. It is located in sub-Saharan Africa, and is home to the superhero Black Panther. Wakanda first app ...

n royal court while looking for the man who killed his father. Unbeknownst to Black Panther,

Klaw Klaw or KLAW may refer to: *Klaw (surname) *Kawhi Leonard (born 1991), American basketball player nicknamed "the Klaw" *Klaw (Marvel Comics), a fictional villain * Klaw Theatre, a broadway theatre in Manhattan, New York City *KLAW Klaw or KLAW may ...

(the man who assassinated T'Chaka) has assembled a group of villains consisting of

Batroc the Leaper Georges Batroc the Leaper (french: Batroc le Sauteur) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in ''Tales of Suspense'' #7 ...

Juggernaut A juggernaut (), in current English usage, is a literal or metaphorical force regarded as merciless, destructive, and unstoppable. This English usage originated in the mid-nineteenth century and was adapted from the Sanskrit word Jagannath. ...

, the Vatican

Black Knight The black knight is a literary stock character who masks his identity and that of his liege by not displaying heraldry. Black knights are usually portrayed as villainous figures who use this anonymity for misdeeds. They are often contrasted with t ...

, and the Russian

Radioactive Man Radioactive Man may refer to: *Radioactive Man (comics), a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe *Radioactive Man (The Simpsons), a fictional comic book superhero in ''The Simpsons'' :*''List_of_The_Simpsons_comics#Radioactive_Man, Radio ...

to help him take over Wakanda.

Cast

Djimon Hounsou Djimon Gaston Hounsou (; ; born April 24, 1964) is a Beninese-American actor and model. He began his career appearing in music videos. He made his film debut in '' Without You I'm Nothing'' (1990) and earned widespread recognition for his role as ...

as T'Challa / Black Panther *

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

as General Wallace *

Kerry Washington Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) SidebarCertificate of Live Birth: Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha(County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health). Gives Kerry Washington birth dateArchivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.Note: Fi ...

as Princess Shuri *

Alfre Woodard Alfre Woodard (; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including four Primetime Emmy Awards (tying the record for the most acting Emmys won by an African-American performer, along with Regina King), ...

as Dondi Reese,

Queen Mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also used to describe a number of ...

Dora Milaje The Dora Milaje are fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are a team of women who serve as special forces for the fictional African nation of Wakanda. Members of the Dora Milaje appear in the Mar ...

Carl Lumbly Carl Winston Lumbly (born August 14, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Dick Hallorann in '' Doctor Sleep'', NYPD detective Marcus Petrie on the CBS police drama ''Cagney & Lacey'', CIA agent Marcus Dixon on the ABC espiona ...

as Uncle

S'Yan This is a list of ''Black Panther'' supporting characters. Family tree of T'challa , - , style="text-align: left;", Notes: Immediate Family * T'Chaka: T'Challa's father and former King of Wakanda. He was killed by Ulysse ...

* Jill Scott as

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...

Stephen Stanton Stephen Walter Stanton (born August 22, 1961) is an American voice actor and visual effects artist. His roles include Sasha Nein in ''Psychonauts'' and ''Psychonauts 2'', Grand Moff Tarkin in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, Admiral Raddus in ''Rogu ...

Additional voices

* Jonathan Adams as

JB Blanc Jean-Benoît Blanc is a French-British actor and director of film and television who has worked on animations and video games in Los Angeles. Early life Blanc was born in Paris, the son of an English people, English mother and a French people, ...

, Male Cannibal,

* David Busch as

Everett K. Ross Everett Kenneth Ross is a character (arts), fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Primarily an ally of superhero Black Panther (character), Black Panther, the character exists within Marvel's main shared ...

Taye Diggs Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs (born January 2, 1971) is an American stage and film actor. He is known for his roles in the Broadway musicals ''Rent'' and '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'', the TV series ''Private Practice'' (2007-2013), ''Murder in the ...

as Historical Black Panther #2 *

Phil LaMarr Phillip LaMarr (born January 24, 1967) is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. LaMarr was one of the original featured cast members on the sketch comedy television series ''Mad TV''. His voice acting roles in animated series include Jo ...

as T'Shan *

Peter Lurie Peter Lurie is an American voice actor, sports anchor and television personality who has worked in television shows, movies, and dubbed anime, since the mid-1990s. He is most well known for his role as the voice of Vulcan Raven in the ''Metal ...

* Phil Morris as

W'Kabi Dorothy Walker Dorothy Walker is a fictional character in Marvel Comics. She was created by Stuart Little and Ruth Atkinson and first appeared in ''Miss America Magazine'' #2 (November 1944). She was reintroduced in '' The Defenders'' #89 (Novem ...

Vanessa Marshall Vanessa Marshall (born October 19, 1969 in Los Angeles, California, U.S.) is an American voice and television actress who is most active in films, cartoons and video games. She is the daughter of actress Joan Van Ark and reporter John Marshall. ...

, Female Cannibal *

Nolan North Nolan North (born October 31, 1970) is an American actor best known for his voice acting roles. After his breakthrough role as Dr. Chris Ramsey on the ABC soap opera ''Port Charles'' in 1997, North moved into voice acting when the show ended i ...

Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...

, Nightcrawler *

Adrian Pasdar Adrian Pasdar (born April 30, 1965) is an American film, television, and voice actor. He is known for his roles in '' Profit'', ''Near Dark'', ''Carlito's Way'', ''Mysterious Ways'', ''Heroes'' and as Glenn Talbot on ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.''. ...

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is ...

, Historical Black Panther #1 *

Rick D. Wasserman Rick Darrin Wasserman is an American voice, stage and television actor. Early life and career He graduated from Temple University with a BA in Theatre in 1995 and later from the University of Missouri with a MFA in Acting in 1998. His best kn ...

Production

At a presentation held in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in April 2008, BET announced that it had signed a deal with Marvel Comics to turn

into a primetime half-hour animated series. In July 2008 at the

San Diego Comic-Con International San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...

, the first footage of the series was shown publicly, indicating that the series was essentially just

versions of the mini-series released by Marvel Comics. The show was supervised by

Reginald Hudlin Reginald Alan Hudlin (born December 15, 1961) is an American film screenwriter, director, producer, and comic-book writer. Along with his older brother Warrington Hudlin, he is known as one of the Hudlin Brothers. From 2005 to 2008, Hudlin was P ...

(President of Entertainment at BET), Eric S. Rollman (President of Marvel Animation) and John Romita, Jr., writer and artist, respectively, of the

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, board games, vide ...

of the Black Panther comic entitled "Who is the Black Panther?", on which the first six episodes were based. Only subtle deviations from the comic exist, such as replacing

Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

with

was cast to voice T'Challa/Black Panther. The series was directed by Mark Brooks and

Jon Schnepp Jonathan David Schnepp (May 16, 1967 – July 19, 2018) was an American producer, director, voice actor, editor, writer, cartoonist, animator, and cinematographer. Schnepp was known for the documentary film '' The Death of "Superman Lives": What ...

. Jon Schnepp co-directed and edited episodes 4 & 5 of the 6 episode animated motion comic series. The theme song was composed by

Stephen James Taylor Stephen James Taylor (born 28 September 1954) is an American composer best known for his film and TV scores with four Emmy nominations, two Annie nominations, and a DVD-X Award on "Best Original Score (for a DVD Premiere Movie) to date ('05). F ...

in a dialect meant to be

n (the fictional character's native language). In reality, the song employed a Bantu-based language of Taylor's creation.

Episodes

Media releases

Australia

Magna Pacific Magna Home Entertainment was an independent home entertainment distributor headquartered in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, operating within Australia and New Zealand. As of February 2009, Magna Home Entertainment became a fully owned subsidia ...

released the series in region 4. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 1, 2010.

United States

On January 18, 2011, the series was released to Region 1 DVD by

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

. It was part of the

line, the line reserved for Marvel's motion comics.

Streaming

On March 16, 2018 (after the film version released in one month), the entire series was released through Marvel's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel for free as ''Marvel Knights Animation - Black Panther''.

References

External links

* * {{BET Black Panther (Marvel Comics) in other media 2010s American adult animated television series 2010s American black cartoons 2010s American science fiction television series 2011 American television series debuts 2011 American television series endings American action adventure television series American adult animated action television series American adult animated adventure television series American adult animated superhero television series American flash adult animated television series English-language television shows BET original programming Marvel Animation Adult animated television shows based on Marvel Comics