Marvel Studio's groundbreaking blockbuster Black Panther was nominated for twelve Critics' Choice Awards and took home three of the awards at the 24th annual ceremony January 13, 2019.
Black Panther won Best Production Design for Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart, Best Costume Design for Ruth E. Carter, and Best Visual Effects, beating Avengers: Infinity War.
Black Panther was nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Michael B. Jordan for his work as N'Jadaka/Erick "Killmonger" Stevens, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Adapted Screenplay for Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, Best Cinematography for Rachel Morrison, Best Hair and Makeup, Best Action Movie, Best Score for Ludwig Goransson, and Best Score for All the Stars.
Chadwick Boseman, born November 29, 1976 in Anderson, South Carolina, first made waves in his performance as Jackie Robinson in 42, but garnered millions of more fans when he appeared as T'Challa, or Black Panther, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
He first appeared as T'Challa in Captain America: Civil War and went on to play the character in his own movie Black Panther. He performed as T'Challa in Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, and the TV series What If...?
He many awards for his performance as T'Challa and for his performance in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.
Unfortunately, Boseman passed away in August 2020 after a long battle with colon cancer.
Ruth Carter, born April 10, 1960 in Springfield, Massachusetts, is the first African-American to win an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. She had been nominated twice before but her work on Black Panther is what got her the award in February 2019. She won numerous awards for her work on Black Panther, and more recently for her work on Dolemite Is My Name, starring Eddie Murphy.
Hannah Beachler, a graduate of the University of Cincinnati in fashion design, is the first African-American to be nominated and the first to win an Academy Award for Best Production Design for her work on Black Panther. She is also the first female production manager of a Marvel film, in which she had a $30M art budget and supervised several hundred people.
Marvel Comics introduced the first African-American superheroes to appear in mainstream comics during the Bronze Age of comics.
The Falcon (Sam Wilson) first appeared in Captain America #117 in September 1969. He has mechanical wings to help him fly and possesses limited telepathic and empathic control over birds. He was born in Harlem in New York City to Paul and Darlene Wilson. He discovers he has a natural affinity for birds and creates the largest pigeon coop in Harlem. His father is killed when Sam is 9 trying to break up a neighborhood fight. His mother is killed two years later when she is mugged. He moves to LA and becomes a career criminal and gang member. On his way to Brazil, his plane crashes on Exile Island, which has been taken over by neo-Nazis bent on taking over the world.
The Red Skull uses the Cosmic Cube to fuse Wilson with a falcon Redwing in a super-human mental link, but he is befriended by Captain America. They train together until they are ready to overthrow the Exiles. He becomes The Falcon and fights along side with Captain America. The Black Panther gives him the harness with wings that allows him to fly.
Storm (Ororo Munroe) first appeared in Giant Sized X-Men #1 in May 1975. She has the ability to control the weather which makes her one of the most powerful superheroes. She was born in Harlem to an American photojournalist and a tribal princess from Kenya. Her parents are killed in a bomb attack in Cairo during the Arab-Israeli conflict. She grows up as a thief and pickpocket on the streets of Cairo.
When her mutant powers manifested themselves, she was worshiped in Kenya as a weather goddess. Professor X (Charles Xavier) convinces her to join the X-Men. She was briefly married to T'Challa, the Black Panther.
