One of the side effects of this boom period of comic book heroes is that everyone gets a shot to shine.  The Black Panther is a Marvel character brought into existence to cater specifically to the African-American audience.  While the name suggests a superhero based on the Oakland socio-political group, in fact this character is the King of the fictional African country Wakanda.

Reggie Hudlin wrote and produced this animated version of the character for BET last year (and now streaming on Netflix).  He put together an all star voice cast (Alfre Woodard, Kerry Washington, Jill Scott, Djimon Hounson as the Panther) for this version of the character that’s every bit as broad as its origins.  The story told here stays true to the ‘on the nose’ nature of the character and his self-righteous origins (in one of the first episodes, the Black Panther defeats Captain America and tells him to go back to where he came from, he doesn’t belong in Africa.  And I’m only slightly paraphrasing that line.)

From what I recall, a live action version of the Black Panther is in development.  I don’t know if it will work with the tone of the animated series.  As far as Hudlin’s version goes though, it works for what it’s intended to be: a safe alternative for young black kids.