‘Black Panther’: Kevin Feige & Director Ryan Coogler Explain Powers

Last night, the highly anticipated trailer for Marvel’s Black Panther dropped and aside from being amazing, it showed Black Panther in action. Speaking with EW, Kevin Feige discussed how the king of Wakanda came upon the Heart-Shaped Herb that will be “familiar” to comic book readers.

“People who read the comics would be familiar with the Heart-Shaped Herb and the ceremonies that surround that. That’s partially spiritual. We certainly don’t call it magic, but there’s Vibranium that has been interwoven within that soil and that land for thousands of years, so there are other things going on with it.”

Director Ryan Coogler expanded on that and mentioned that it’s the Heart-Shaped Herb that essentially gives Black Panther his powers and “physical edge.”

“The Heart-Shaped Herb is how Black Panther achieves his powers. He can fight hand-to-hand with Cap, who’s a supersoldier, so he has super strength and heightened instincts that give him his enhanced abilities. The Heart-Shaped Herb is what Black Panthers over the generations would consume, once they earn the title, which gives them their physical edge.”

Here’s the official synopsis for Black Panther:

Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” follows T’Challa who, after the death of his father, the King of Wakanda, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king. But when a powerful old enemy reappears, T’Challa’s mettle as king—and Black Panther—is tested when he is drawn into a formidable conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people and their way of life.

The film stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, with Angela Bassett, with Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis.

Black Panther will be in theaters on February 16, 2018.

Source: EW