Black Panther Has the Most Important Role in Captain America: Civil War

Image Credit: Marvel

We know that one of the new superheroes we'll be introduced to in Captain America: Civil War is Black Panther/T'Challa, a prince from the African nation of Wakanda. However, it remains unknown how exactly Chadwick Boseman's character will be playing into the entire superhero war, especially since it's been said over and over that he'll be a "third party" in the MCU movie.

With Civil War nearing its release, we're getting more information on the eponymous hero.

Boseman sat down with Empire recently and the 39-year-old actor revealed that he's not exactly fighting in Civil War.

He said:

[He's] not on anybody's team. It's my political mission to tame it and get it under control.

For some reason, T'Challa will be traveling from Wakanda to the United States to get involved in the superhero war even if he still has his own problems to attend to in his home nation. We've seen Black Panther on Iron Man/Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr.) side in the Civil War Super Bowl spot. With what Boseman just told Empire, it means Black Panther will be acting as some sort of mediator between the two groups divided over the Sokovia Accords, even though he'll ultimately be working with Tony Stark. In other words, he's just doing his job when we see him on Stark's team in the trailer.

This recent revelation also falls in line with why viewers were confused with who to side on after the Civil War test screenings. Black Panther must have done a good job acting as mediator between the two sides, pointing out reasonable arguments from each faction.

In addition, Boseman's interview would support the fact that his character is not a superhero in the traditional sense of the word. Black Panther is a royal title that's been passed to T'Challa in his African nation. For him, it's a part of his duty to tame the superhero war and ultimately stop it.

As for Black Panther's vested interest in Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), it would appear that the Wakandan Prince is again, just doing his business bringing down Bucky for crimes he's committed. There had been rumors that T'Challa was after the Winter Soldier for killing his father T'Chaka, but so far, no king of Wakanda has appeared in any Civil War previews.

I'm excited to see how Black Panther will fulfill his mission when Captain America: Civil War hits theaters on May 6. We'll see the character again with the Black Panther solo film on February 16, 2019.

If you're interested to see all the MCU movies that led to the Civil War, check out this Road to Civil War Supercut.