Black Panther Day is real, ya’ll. You thought I was joking. Black Panther already looks like the coolest Marvel movie ever, but now we have numbers that say it could also be the biggest. Fandango reports first day ticket presales are the biggest they’ve ever had for a Marvel movie. Whoa. The previous record holder was Captain America: Civil War, which happened to be Black Panther’s screen debut. Coincidence? Probably not.
It’s proof that more than just black people are excited for this trip to Wakanda, where Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan will battle for the throne. Audiences not only want to see a reflection of themselves on the big screen, but a diversity of cultures, races, and gender. I think that’s a big reason why Wonder Woman got off to such a hot start last year. Men and women were eager to see something other than muscle-bound dudes punching one another.
To be fair, huge presales doesn’t always mean anything. Justice League’s advance sales were incredibly strong, too, and we know how that turned out. But this is Marvel, and we know from history that audiences flock to theaters for the opening weekend. I’m expecting Black Panther to be the second biggest debut of the year, behind only Avengers: Infinity War. Yep, think it’ll beat both Solo: A Star Wars Story and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. We’ll find out when February 16th comes around.
