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Breathtaking, masterful and prideful sum up one of the greatest superhero dramas of all time. With a star-studded cast and brilliant screenplay, Black Panther came to the big screen in February after 50 years of comics.

Black Panther took to the box office and shattered records in the process by setting marks for the biggest February opening weekend, biggest non-sequel opening weekend, biggest solo superhero launches of all time, biggest Friday-Sunday opening weekend for a long-holiday debut, and biggest long holiday opening weekend.

The film is the first of its kind, a superhero movie full of rich African culture. The film is set in Wakanda, a mythical nation that is rich in resources and technology. The setting of this movie is important because it shows a different type of society than we are used to seeing. Wakanda is a place where Africans rule and are thriving, in what has been depicted in marvel comics as the most technically advanced places on the planet.

Chadwick Boseman does a fantastic job capturing the essence of African prince-turned-king T’Challa in a time of transition for his nation. T’Challa takes the throne after his father is assassinated in a bombing (depicted in Marvel’s Captain America Civil War). T’Challa faces several challenges along his rise to greatness. Many of these challenges come from Ulysses Klaue, who sets out to steal Wakanda’s most valuable resource, Vibranium, so that he can weaponize it. Another villain is played by Michael B. Jordan, who sets the bar incredibly high for villains this year as Erik Killmonger, T’Challa’s long-lost cousin. In one of the best hand-to-hand combat action sequences I have ever seen, Killmonger defeats T’Challa and takes the throne as the new king of Wakanda with one thing on his mind: using Vibranium to manufacture weapons and take over the world.

Black Panther is a timeless movie that both African-Americans and Africans have been anticipating for what seems like forever. Marvel has produced something black youth can relate to more than ever before. It’s also full of powerful quotes that speak directly to the black experience.

“Why, so you can lock me up?” Kilmonger says. “Nah. Just bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from ships, ’cause they knew death was better than bondage.”

Quotes such as this show that even a superhero movie can engage the mind of its audience and cause people to think while also providing pivotal lesson about what’s right and wrong.

This brings great joy to me as a young African- American male growing up and never really being able to see a super hero movie where the main character closely resembles me. This is a great indicator that progress is being made in Hollywood to show the ever-changing culture of the world while also dropping gems of knowledge upon its viewers.