| No Images? Click here   The nationwide release of "Black Panther" is just hours away, and we can't overstate just how amazing this film is. From the acting to the special effects, this film is drenched in black excellence and deserving of all the hype surrounding it. Which is why this week's newsletter is an ode to "Black Panther." Start off with a review from HuffPost film critic Matthew Jacobs who gives this film nothing but praise:So it is written in the pop-culture bible: No heroic quest is complete without a dark night of the soul, that pivotal moment when a costumed crusader questions his or her ability to protect the world or else reaches an impasse about how to do so. This crossroads occurs in Marvel’s newest chapter, “Black Panther,” but it feels more like a “Lion King” homage than a comic-book cliché. After the titular warrior T’Challa has been crowned ruler of the African nation Wakanda, his late father appears to him against the violet twilight, just as Mufassa materialized in young Simba’s hour of need. “I am not ready to be without you,” the mourning T’Challa tells his papa, who gently promises that T’Challa has spent his life training for this precious juncture. He’s gonna be a mighty king, so enemies beware. Thanks to the careful work of director Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the “Black Panther” script with “American Crime Story” scribe Joe Robert Cole, the movie’s familiar elements are comforting instead of tiresome. That’s because what bookends them is fresh and more invigorating than anything this genre has produced in the 21st century.  In case you missed it
 What's trending It goes without saying that “Black Panther” does a damn good job at empowering black people on screen. But that wasn’t reserved solely for in front of the camera. The crew that made this highly anticipated film a reality was very inclusive, with black people and women in many of the lead roles. Director Ryan Coogler, production director Hannah Beachler and costume designer Ruth E. Carter are just a few of the folks who made Wakanda, the fictional African nation where the movie is set, into a cinematic reality. It matters that many of the people behind the scenes who are helping tell this story are black. They bring a cultural understanding to the set that can’t be learned, and they help elevate the film with a specific kind of nuance and sophistication. They should be celebrated for their work, too.  “Black Panther” pushes the Marvel Cinematic Universe into exciting new territory — specifically the vibranium-rich African nation of Wakanda, whose existence was first hinted at way back in ”Iron Man 2,” but which it hasn’t spent extensive time in until now. Even though the film takes place in a fresh corner of the MCU, it’s still very much a part of the single timeline that the studio has been building since the first “Iron Man” hit theaters a decade ago, and which will come to an end, of sorts, with the release of “Avengers: Infinity War” on May 4, and the still-untitled fourth and final “Avengers” movie set for release on May 3, 2019. And “Black Panther” doesn’t just continue the larger MCU story in the present day — it fills in some pieces of history as well. Here’s our speculative, and spoiler-free, take on where the events of this movie fall in the existing MCU movie timeline.
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