Fight to The Death is an ongoing feature where staffers and readers get to vote and explain why one film is better than the other OR whether one fictional character would be able to kill another. This week’s featured rumble – Blade versus Black Panther. UPDATE: THE WINNER HAS BEEN CHOSEN.
Twitter voted Black Panther @ 73%
Keven voted BLADE
There was a lot of hype surrounding the global release of Marvel’s record-breaking Black Panther. And rightfully so. Featuring the most diverse cast in Marvel Studios’ history and having that many African American performers taking centre stage in a massive blockbuster project – is something that doesn’t happen that much in Hollywood. Add the fact that the ladies stole the damn show too and you have what could be the most progressive big budget studio movie ever made. Black Panther lived up to the hype – the film was a thrilling, perfectly paced action spectacle with brilliant performances from an incredibly talented cast.
Chadwick Boseman’s title performance as the Black Panther was wonderful, but I do feel like the supporting cast made the movie. Danai Gurira, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, Winston Duke and Letita Wright were all SO damn entertaining that they stole the film right out from under their leading man. Black Panther was a team effort – and an extremely strong one at that. But enough about the latest and greatest Marvel studios film yet, let’s talk about Blade and why Wesley Snipes isn’t getting the credit he deserves.
Everyone was losing their minds on social media about how Black Panther was the FIRST African American Marvel Superhero to blow up the bigscreen. Well – Blade would like to have a word with you and he would like to remind you about 1999 when the first Blade movie hit bigscreens and changed the entire game. Not only was Blade the first major movie release to feature an African American Marvel superhero as the lead, but it was also rated R – in an era when studios weren’t sure if restricted comic book adaptations were even viable. Blade was revolutionary and the film still holds up thanks to Snipes’ enigmatic and cool as fuck performance. Nobody else will ever play Blade as good as Snipes has – he embodies that character like Clint Eastwood embodies the Man with No Name. He’s just so damn cool it’s unfair.
So let’s have Blade and Black Panther battle it out – physically fight to the death to settle this shit. Black Panther has super strength thanks to some miracle flower he ingests and Blade has vampire strength with none of the weaknesses of sunlight to hold him back. With Blade’s experience (the dude fought Dracula in the comics/film – AND WON, obviously), I think he takes this one. Black Panther is strong as hell but if it weren’t for his team watching his back – he wouldn’t be where he is today because of his inexperience as a vigilante. Don’t ffffffreeeze – spoiler, he freezes and he messes up – a lot actually. Blade will kill you and catch his sunglasses in mid-air while he’s killing you. He might even kill you while the Crystal Method is on the soundtrack just to turn it up a notch. Blade is the man – Blade wins. The public doesn’t think so though – they voted Black Panther twice to break the tie. The public has spoken – all hail king T’Challa.
Twitter Tie Breaker – BLACK PANTHER @ 57%
Winner: BLACK PANTHER
For the rules of FIGHT TO THE DEATH click HERE