00:00Back when Jack Kirby and Stan Lee co-created the comic book superhero Black Panther in the
00:051960s, the largest audience they could reach was at most 200,000 through circulation.
00:10But when the Marvel Studios film starring Chadwick Boseman opens this weekend, it will be seen by
00:15millions of fans around the world.
00:20Excitement and anticipation.
00:25For the movie directed by Ryan Coogler are at a boiling point.
00:29The film is projected to...
00:30...open to $100 to $150 million and could become the biggest launch ever.
00:35For a Marvel Cinematic Universe Heroes first standalone movie.
00:38Black Panther is already being...
00:40...heralded by those who have seen it as a cultural movement.
00:45Kirby died in 1994, but his family...
00:50tells The Hollywood Reporter's comic book movie destination Heat Vision that the legendary artist would be over
00:55overcome with joy and likely some shock with how beloved his one-time risky character has become.
01:00Kirby's son Neil told THR's Ryan Parker,
01:0350 years ago he could have never envisioned...
01:05...the statement that this movie is making and the way it is being embraced by everybody.
01:09He added,
01:10In terms of a message, that was always his intention.
01:13But he could have never envisioned reaching...
01:15...for having this size of an audience.
01:16Created in 1966 by Lee and Kirby, Black Panther was...
01:20...revolutionary as the first African superhero in mainstream comics.
01:23Considered by Kirby as...
01:25...as one of his most important creations for its message, T'Challa aka Black Panther...
01:30...was a black man with brawn, brains, wealth and advanced technologies.
01:34Introduced in the middle...
01:35...of the civil rights movement.
01:36Neil Kirby, a high school senior when Black Panther first appeared in Fantastic...
01:40...4 No. 52 in summer 1966, remembers his father talking to him about...
01:45...introducing the character.
01:46He said,
01:47I recall during the winter or early spring, he asked me what I would think of a black superhero in the comics.
01:52Of course, he was very much for it, as we all were at the time.
01:55He added,
01:56My father...
01:57...was a very socially liberal person.
01:59He would have been the Bernie Sanders of his day.
02:01He very much believed...
02:02...in social justice and equality.
02:04So he honestly thought it was time.
02:05Why shouldn't African Americans have their own?
02:07...superhero.
02:08But such a character at the time was risky, both creatively and for life and limb.
02:12However, Kirby didn't care, according to his son.
02:14The comic book legend dealt with adversity before...
02:17...over another character, Captain America, who was portrayed as punching Adolf Hitler in the face.
02:22...in his 1941 first issue.
02:24Neil Kirby recalled,
02:25I remember at one time he received a
02:27letter or something happened, and he was a little concerned.
02:30He added,
02:31It kind of went back to his day when...
02:32...he and Joe Simon created Captain America, and they were receiving death threats from the American Nazi Party.
02:37And as the story goes, Mayor LaGuardia put a police car outside their studio.
02:42So there was a little concern there again, but it was a passing thing.
02:45I don't think he ever expected blowback...
02:47...like the KKK coming after him or anything like that.
02:50More than anything, the Kirby family says they...
02:52...are happy that the legendary artist is finally getting his due for creating numerous popular Marvel characters...
02:57...with Lee.
02:58So will you be checking out Kirby's Legacy and seeing Black Panther in theaters this weekend?
03:01Be sure to...
03:02Let me know in the comments.
03:03Until next time, for The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.
03:07Let me know in the comments.
Comments