Oprah Winfrey Praises Marvel Studios’ ‘Black Panther’; Calls It A ‘Phenomenon’

Oprah Winfrey praised Marvel Studios and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther Monday night at the London West Hollywood hotel.

Awards season is in full swing and Black Panther could become the first comic book movie to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. The film is getting a lot of Oscar buzz after being recently nominated for the Best Picture categories at both the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The Hollywood Reporter was at an event at the London West Hollywood hotel, where Winfrey spoke highly of the Marvel Studios film in front of more than 100 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members:

“I just wanted to say that when I first saw Black Panther, I sent an email to my friend Bobby and said, ‘Hi Bobby! Just saw it. It’s worth everything I’ve heard and more. A phenomenon in every way, on every level. Makes me tear up to think that little black children will grow up with “Wakanda forever.” It’s game-changing, it’s pride-making, it’s dazzling, it’s phenomenal.’ That was my personal review.”

Black Panther scored a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the highest among MCU films. The cultural phenomenon also grossed over $1 billion worldwide. Winfrey went on to discuss how important the film was for the black community:

“I also know that throngs and throngs and so many people came, and came with their families, and then they went back and they got more family members, and then they went back and told their co-workers and their friends, because everybody recognized that something bigger than a movie was happening up on that screen. We all knew — those of us who have come from the culture and the history — how lit it was. It just gave us life! It gave us life! But it was so affirming for everyone who saw it because you knew that it was bigger than this moment — it was a cultural happening — and just to be in the theater was to be a part of all of that.”

Winfrey then thanked longtime friend and Disney CEO Bob Iger, who was in attendance, for making the film happen and for sticking with Coogler’s vision:

“None of that could have happened without one man. You know, no matter how many thousands of people there are at Disney, the bottom line is, if he doesn’t say ‘yes,’ it doesn’t happen. I have admired and been a friend of Bob Iger’s for a very long time, and am just so respectful of his leadership. And I know that this happened the way it happened because of his leadership, because he had the good sense to hire Ryan Coogler. And then to let him execute his vision. So we are thankful to you, Mr. Iger, for that.”

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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.

Directed by Ryan Coogler from a script he co-wrote with Joe Robert Cole, Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, Florence Kasumba, John Kani, with Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis.

Black Panther is now available on Digitial HD, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-Ray, and DVD.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter