With its record-setting run in theaters, it was all but a foregone conclusion that Marvel’s The Black Panther would get a home DVD/ Blu-Ray release. Well, the time to bring a piece of Wakanda home is at hand, with the release of The Black Panther on home video.
My original review of the film raved about the importance of the film and its social impact. The various extras laced throughout the disc drive home some of my assertions from that review as well as give an inside look at the many stages of putting together this fantastic piece of cinema. The film is presented in its theatrical release form but (sorry, there’s no extra 15 to 30 minutes added into the film off the cutting room floor), there is a special intro from the director and a director’s commentary track version that also features the production designer. The special features section offers featurettes that offer incredible insight to the thought process behind the production of this film.
– Crowning a new King: details the introduction of The Black Panther character into the MCU and the significance of bringing him and his world to the big screen.
– The Hidden Kingdom Revealed: Touches on the fictional kingdom of Wakanda and how it was brought to life. It shows the intricate detail used to build this place while keeping it grounded in reality enough to make it feel like a place here on Earth instead of an alien world.
– The Warrior Within: Talks about the focus placed on the women of Wakanda and how important it was to show them in positions of power and reverence. There’s also a bit of background laid out about each of the women in central character roles and their relationship with King T’Challa.
– Wakanda Revealed: Technology is huge in the film, with Wakanda being the most technologically advanced nation in the world and all. This featurette shows how the technology of the African nation came to be in this movie and how important it is to the world of Black Panther.
There is also the obligatory gag reel that shows the stars of the film messing up lines, dropping things and saying things not written in the script. There’s nothing really noteworthy in this short piece of footage.
The deleted scenes are a small collection of five scenes that hit the cutting room floor. for various reasons. One scene touches on the Panther God Bast a bit more. In my review of Black Panther, I said that there should’ve been more mention of Bast as it’s an incredibly important part of the Black Panthers‘ mythos and the people of Wakandas’ spirituality. There’s a much talked about the scene where characters Okoye and W’Kabi argue over the future of Wakanda.
It is a fantastically acted scene but understandably omitted from the movies final cut. From Page to Screen is a roundtable discussion between the director (Ryan Coogler), the writers of the Black Panther film, as well as one of the original men who worked on the Black Panther comic at its inception and the current writer of the ongoing comic series for Black Panther. This one is by far my favorite extra as the group discusses how the character of the Black Panther came into existence, his significance at the time of his creation and the experiences of those who are helping to continue the legacy of the character today and what he means to them.
There is a sneak peek trailer for Ant-Man and The Wasp (which I’m extremely excited for as I loved the first in installment). As a last little tidbit, Marvel has provided a retrospective piece on the first 10 years of the MCU that covers just how we got from Iron-Man all the way to Avengers: Infinity War over the last 10 years of cinema. It speaks to the daunting task of connecting all of the seemingly singular films into one giant overarching story.
The overall presentation of the DVD/ Blu-ray is rather basic with the menus and things being pretty straightforward and humdrum. With most of the extras being cool to see without ever feeling outright necessary. The theatrical release of the film is on there and honestly is good enough on its own to justify the purchase of this home release. I recommend grabbing yourself a copy for your collection so you can watch Wakanda forever!
