"Black Panther" is not showing until February 2018, but attendees of the Congressional Black Caucus Conference had an exclusive first look at footage from the Marvel film.
Although the Annual Legislative Conference usually features discussions on policy and issues for African-Americans and the global black community, the 2017 conference featured an innovative session titled "Imagining a Bigger World — Marvel's Black Panther, Cultural Heritage and STEM."
The panel for the session included "Black Panther" director Ryan Coogler and executive producer Nate Moore. Five minutes of footage from the film were screened to approximately 150 people in the audience.
The conference marks the first time that film footage was shown to a majority black audience. The session was received positively and started discussions about varied topics, including Vibranium and the cultural impact of the film.
Panelist Rick Loverd reportedly said about black representation in the film, "You can't be what you can't see."
Meanwhile, the action scenes in the film drew comparisons to the 2017 film "Kingsman."
The Root was present at the conference, and wrote about the film:
"The action is kinetic, like a mixture of Coogler's fight scenes from 'Creed' and the manic bullet ballets from 'Kingsman' movies. Okoye [Danai Gurira] and Nakia [Lupita Nyong'o] pull out spears and start fighting off henchmen, and T'Challa [Chadwick Boseman] is diving over tables while Klaue [Andy Serkis] is shooting at Ross [Martin Freeman], T'Challa and everyone else to make his escape. T'Challa effortlessly makes a 20-foot leap into the upper balcony to chase after Klaue, only to have to dodge a slew of lasers as Klaue's hand transforms into a cannon of some kind."
The movie follows T'Challa aka Black Panther as he tries to keep the kingdom of Wakanda in control after the king's untimely death. He is soon challenged for his father's throne by factions within the kingdom. Black Panther teams up with CIA agent Everett K. Ross to prevent a world war from devastating the country.
"Black Panther" premieres in theaters on Feb. 16, 2018.
