Black Panther [[(spoiler question!!)]] Plot point question

[Bucky]

don't read this if you haven't seen the movie





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seriously




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but seriously





Why did they have to get the CIA agent to shoot down all the planes flying weapons out of Wakanda? Why couldn't they just, you know, get on the radio and say "Come back, guys, we changed kings again."

[exboyfil]

1. Still loyalst factions

The pilots were true believers in the new regime?

I think it would have been a better movie without such an optimistic ending. I think letting the weapons get out would have driven the story forward.

[Bucky]

2. I dunno

Wakandans seem like a pretty flaky people, where loyalties are concerned. First it's "Oh look, he pushed our king off a cliff. I love our new king!" and then it's "Oh look, our old king is back, let's go fight each other, based on our uniforms, to see who gets to be king now."

It would have at least been worth it to get on the horn and try "Hey, come back, guys! We forgot to tell you we got pie!"


But yes, I totally agree letting those weapons out would have opened up a LOT more stories (especially Africa-based stories) in the MCU. I tend to prefer more realistic based superhero movies. But I enjoyed this a bit less than the last Thor & Hulk outing. Hopefully the next movie will play more with the contrast between idealistic Wakanda and the reality of colonized Africa.

[Baitball Blogger]

3. Sounds like you missed a major story point.

Why did they serve the new king? Because of ritualistic traditions. The story of Wakanda is classic conflict between being a protectionist nation that knows that its technology will turn them into a target for other nations, versus the people who wanted to share their technology for the betterment of the world.

The military exemplified blind loyalty. That was amply displayed as the women warriors reluctantly surrounded the new king. But the opposite pov was stressed by the comment, "I don't want to serve my country, I want to save it."

I am glad that this movie went into an idealistic direction. I got bored with the family rivalries in Thor. Seriously, just kill Loki and move on. How hard can that be?

[Bucky]

4. I don't know how "classic" that conflict is.

History is pretty consistent showing that Nations that are in isolation fall behind in technology, not that they develop enviable technology.

A good case in point is China, which following the fall of the Yuan Dynasty went from being the most technologically advanced nation the world, to being in a steady decline until they became a 19th century punching bag by Britain, France, Russia, and Japan.

Of course, there's a long literary tradition of super-advanced lost civilizations, from Atlantis to El Dorado. And the movie was supposed to be fun, not realistic.

I enjoyed the fun bits. But it's still worth noting that a truly advanced society is going to result from a commercial culture, not a country where executive power falls on whoever can win a game of King of the Hill.

[McCamy Taylor]

5. Maybe the drones, once sent out, are on radio silence so that they can not be

hacked and turned back by their targets who may be short on missiles but strong when it comes to software and jamming frequencies. Or worse yet, hijacked by people with better software and turned on the wrong targets.

[DetlefK]

6. Oh, there's a WAY BIGGER plot-point question about that CIA agent.

Ross was shot.

And we are supposed to believe that a safe-house full of CIA-agents would simply hand over a wounded CIA-agent to some random Third-World-country?????

[Bucky]

7. If T'Challa was a reliable agent promoting US imperial objectives yes.

Especially if he had a mad scientist sister ready to give directives to that same CIA agent to go out and murder a bunch of Wakanda's top air force pilots in order to stop any nascent anti-imperialist movement on the continent and restore the old anti-democratic regime at the top of their feudal society.

Killmonger was the hero of this movie, dammit, and it was a tragedy.

[DetlefK]

8. I sure do hope you were being ironic.

1. Killmonger wanted to incite bloody revolutions all over the planet, not just to fight a "US empire".

2. These wakandan airforce pilots were on their way to deliver weapons of mass-destruction to disgruntled elements of society.

3. Killmonger, the king of Wakanda, was a proponent of democracy?



Killmonger, the schemer who kills without remorse and who wants to incite World War III, he's the hero. Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure.