It's difficult to stress how much Black Panther needed to be good. The film was coming off the backs of 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarok - three of Marvel's strongest films to date. Plus, as the last release before the highly anticipated Avengers: Infinity War , Black Panther had to be something special to avoid being overlooked. Most significantly, Black Panther found itself in a similar position to last year's Wonder Woman , bearing the responsibility of representing a regularly underrepresented group without screwing it up. Fortunately, it succeeds with flying colours. Black Panther is possibly my favourite standalone Marvel film yet. It excels in nearly every area, including those the MCU normally botches. Black Panther is the first Marvel film that doesn't look merely professional, but genuinely beautiful. The sets and costumes are an inventive kaleidoscope, shot with beaming vibrancy by Academy Award-nom...