- Today's episode is sponsored by GraphicStock.
We're diving into a borrowed ancient legend
on today's Nerdist News.
(upbeat music)
The epic back.
(mumbles)
The epic Black Panther trailer offered up tons of cool
imagery, fight sequences, and political intrigue,
wracking up in total nearly 89 million views
across all platforms in 24 hours, which is amazing.
We got a great look at the Dora Milaje, Wakanda's elite
guard of female warriors as they Erik Killmonger,
he's probably a good guy, right?
One of Black Panther's main big bads
and come February of 2018, we'll be diving into the inner
workings of Wakanda and its surrounding mythologies
as well as all of its political entanglements.
But what stood out in this trailer to most of us
was a reference right at the top which opened with
an interrogation scene between Bilbo Baggins and Gollum.
Aka Klaw. Klaw Klaw.
Klaw, who had previously appeared in the MCU after saying
adios to his arm in Age of Ultron refers to Wakanda
as the actual kingdom from the El Dorado myth
so grab your fedora and your wha-pa,
'cause we're gonna do some digging, like Indiana Jones,
it's a reference. - I got it.
- I got it too.
The El Dorado myth is more widely known as a reference
to the lost city of gold.
Many explorers spent their entire lives searching
for this fabled city, some even going cray cray,
as the kids say, because of it.
Film and TV has referenced the lost city of gold
numerous times from the Road to El Dorado
to the Rundown to our personal favorite,
the nail-biting episode of Duck Tales.
But Scrooge McDuck isn't the only treasure hunter
to get gold fever, actual historical gold hounds
dedicated much of their lives to finding this city,
only to fail miserably and either give up
or die in the quest.
The crazed look in Klaw's eye and the sheer glee
with which he talks about Wakanda's secret riches
very directly evokes this tradition of colonizers
and treasure seekers feverishly plundering resource-rich
areas with little regard to the locals.
The trailer hints at the plundering of resources
but it also directly calls upon the actual roots
of the El Dorado myth.
The legend originally referred to the ceremonial rite
of the Muisca tribe in the Andes mountains
and the area is now known as Colombia.
In this ancient ceremony, a new king was established
by coating his skin in mud and then covering himself
in gold, ooh, in sexy gold dust to seal his new status
as leader and then he would submerge himself in a lake,
which is probably not the best way to, all the gold would.
The Black Panther trailer evokes this ancient ritual
as we see T'Challa descend into water
in what looks like the Warrior Falls,
the site of several key events in the comics.
The high walls of the falls are filled with cheering
Wakandans, the shot has a strong celebratory feel
which makes us think that this is the actual moment
where T'Challa is crowned king of Wakanda and officially
takes on his role as leader and defender of his nation.
But what could recreating the true roots of the ancient
golden myth mean for this story?
Well in this
♫ Del Dorado, silverado
♫ Ford tough
Well in this El Dorado-esque scene, it would make sense
that T'Challa might be covered in vibranium dust,
the way the Muisca king is covered in gold dust
in the OG legend, that's what we call original legends now,
that's what the kids say.
It's hard to tell from such a quick shot in the trailer
but we do know from the comics that vibranium
was first harvested from a meteorite and that the precious
mineral is the lifeblood of Wakandan society,
so yes, vibranium does stand as a strong parallel for gold
in that it is the root of Wakandans' wealth
and technological prowess.
So it makes sense that there would be rituals
to honor the importance of the material and that it would
have a deeper mystical meaning for the Wakandans.
- I love gold.
- That mysticism appears later in the trailer too.
Kevin Feige revealed to EW that the shot of the children
stirring something just out of frame is actually them
preparing the heart-sharped herb for T'Challa.
This herb comes straight out of the comics
and is consumed by Wakandan royalty to increase
their strength and heighten their senses.
Feige added that the herb is partially spiritual,
end quote, and has been grown in vibranium-laced soil
so vibranium will play a key role not only in Wakandan
tech and economics but also in their cultural rituals
and potentially the greater MCU.
We know phase four of the MCU will be cosmic
and since vibranium came to earth from the cosmos,
vibranium's role in Black Panther could be setting the stage
for more mysticism on a greater scale
in future Marvel films.
But what do you think?
Does vibranium have mystical powers?
No.
And do you think Bucky will wake up in Wakanda
in the post-credits scene?
Let's discuss.
And a big shoutout to the sponsor of today's show,
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Ooh.
None of this.