The National Museum of African American History and Culture will house a number of items belonging to the Marvel movie Black Panther.
In their announcement of the acquisition on Wednesday, the museum said the 2018 blockbuster film "illustrates the progression of blacks in film, an industry that in the past has overlooked blacks, or regulated them to flat, one-dimensional and marginalized figures. The film, like the museum, provides a fuller story of black culture and identity."
The items acquired by the museum include the costume worn by Chadwick Boseman, as well as a shooting script that's signed by co-writer and director Ryan Coogler, co-writer and producer Joe Robert Cole, Marvel Studios president and producer Kevin Feige, and executive producer Nate Moore. It also includes two pages of a spec script and 24 high-resolution production photos.
Marvel's Black Panther made its protagonist the first black superhero in mainstream American comics history, while the film broke down barriers of its own, leaving behind a large cultural and historical impact. Black Panther is the third-highest grossing film domestically at $699.66 million, and sits in 9th place worldwide with $1.34 billion. The movie's significance was touched upon by renowned filmmaker Spike Lee. "I look at the world now differently, before Black Panther and after Black Panther,” he said. "That shit changed everything, especially for people of color."
