Black Panther is, in every sense of the word, a triumph for Marvel Studios. It’s been blessed with an overwhelmingly positive response from both critics and fans and it’s continually earning more and more more at the box office – it might even beat out The Avengers to become the biggest MCU movie of the lot in terms of domestic gross.
It’s fair to say, then, that it has well and truly blasted away any dated beliefs from out-of-touch studio execs that say a superhero pic starring someone other than a white guy can’t be a barnstorming success. Not that this is the sole reason it’s been a hit, of course – far from it – but Black Panther will surely open the door to many more Marvel movies starring black leads in the future.
As the MCU has starred only Caucasian folks so far as its protagonists, there are plenty of black heroes and heroines rolling around the comic book universe that are crying out for an appearance on the big screen. With the franchise set to renew itself in major – and currently unknown ways – in Phase Four, and its accompanying TV shows also increasing in number all the time, there are many ways for these characters to now show up.
But which heroes, in particular, do we think deserve to follow in Black Panther’s footsteps? Here are our top eight picks, and if you feel like we’ve left anyone out, be sure to let us know in the comments section down below.