Disney Parks, Marvel

Armchair Imagineering and Marvel’s Black Panther

Marvel’s Black Panther has been a box office smash, kicking ass across the globe and raking in over 1 billion dollars to date. At first, I wanted to write a review but it seems a little late to the party. Also, there isn’t anything that I could add that hasn’t already been said. I’m going to dish on it in a couple sentences. Black Panther featured lots of action and with hints of hilarious comic relief. The plot was fantastic and the film was perfectly casted. Unlike most superhero movies, it was thought provoking in many positive ways. This movie has opened up a whole new fan base for Marvel. Look for Disney to capitalize on Black Panther in the future by marketing the shit out of it, across all platforms. Now, I’m going to do some armchair Imagineering and speculate how Black Panther could be used in a kickass way in Disney Parks.

Before all you clowns start in with the ‘Universal/Marvel east of the Mississippi contract,’ let me stop you in your tracks. I don’t give a shit about that contract. This article is meant to be fun and is pure speculation. I’ll let the Walt Disney Company lawyers figure out the bullshit regarding the contract.


  Kingdom of Wakanda

Black Panther takes place in the fictional Kingdom of Wakanda. Wakanda is the most advanced country in the world due to their direct access to vibranium, an alien metal. Their advancements in technology are several decades ahead of anywhere else in the world. The country is isolated by mountains and forest, and is cloaked in invisibility to the rest of the world. The attraction could be placed inside a ‘mountain,’ with kickass rock work and a massive Panther as the entrance. (See photo below). If you’ve seen the rock work that was done at Pandora: Land of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, then you know how dope this idea could be.

Everyone knows the queue is ever important to telling the damn story of a Disney attraction. After entering through the Panther, you would wind through the mountain, past the gardens of the Heart-Shaped Herb, only to end up in Shuri’s lab. Shuri is the Princess of Wakanda and the sister T’Challa (Black Panther). She is an epic technological wonder, and the brains behind the continued advancements in Wakanda’s modernized technology, such as the Nanotechnology Suit, Kinetic Energy Blasts, Sneakers, electro-magnetic pulse discs, vibranium-powered wrist blasters, Remote Transmission Wireless Technology, and the Maglev Trains. The badass technology displayed in this lab would make Tony Stark jealous. How awesome would it be to make some of this technology hands on, while waiting for the ride?

There are two possible ideas worthy of this attraction. Both would use the concept of kinetic energy with remote transmission wireless technology. Guests would sit down in a ride vehicle resembling a car or spacecraft. Guests could use a virtual reality headset or 3D glasses with a 4K screen, similar technology that is used in Flight of Passage. The first option would recreate the Korean car chase scene. Check out it out below.

The second option parallels Everett Ross’s flight over Wakanda. This option would allow Guests sweeping views of the beautiful country Wakandans have kept shrouded in secrecy for so long. In my opinion, either option would be pretty damn cool.

As far as placement in the Parks goes I would ideally put it in Animal Kingdom, replacing Rafiki’s Planet Watch. As of right now there is a damn choo-choo train that takes you back and forth from Africa and Rafiki’s Planet Watch. All Guests would now be able to experience Wakanda’s technological advances and be transported to Wakanda in the Maglev Train. Wakandans respect for nature and African culture make this a perfect fit. Although, I could also see Disney finding a way of shoehorning it into Epcot based solely on the technology of Wakanda. No matter what they go with, I think it would a be popular attraction at any park.

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