Former Disney CEO Bob Iger says he believes one of the MCU's most popular films, Black Panther, would have never existed if the company only followed "data." The extremely popular film was released in February of 2018 and sits on top of the MCU's rankings on Rotten Tomatoes, scoring an incredible 96% rating. Black Panther became a cultural sensation, earning a worldwide box office total of $1.35 billion. The film is considered by many to be one of Marvel's most important Phase 3 films, with its representation of African culture and main cast led entirely by Black actors being two of the key reasons behind its success.
The 18th addition to the MCU, Ryan Coogler's hit success starred Chadwick Boseman, who sadly passed away in 2020 after a battle with colon cancer, as T'Challa/Black Panther. Black Panther was the second time the actor had taken up the hero's mantle, making his MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War. The film focuses on T'Challa's story after his father's murder, taking on the role of Wakanda's king. He is then put to the test by the arrival of his cousin Erik Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan. Jordan's portrayal as T'Challa's rival was considered one of the best villain performances in the MCU, despite the actor recently arguing that Killmonger was never the villain.
Speaking with The New York Times (via We Got This Covered) Iger revealed that he doesn't believe Black Panther would ever have been made if Disney exclusively followed its existing data. Iger left Disney in February 2020, stepping down and handing the role over to Bob Chapek. The former CEO revealed that data played a pivotal role in determining "what stories are told" by Disney, and that he left the company with some "advice" on his exit that this shouldn't be the case. Iger said he felt that an "Afrofuturistic world with a Black cast" like Black Panther likely wouldn't exist if the studio was guided by data and numbers alone. Read Iger's full quote below:
“...And having spent almost 50 years on the creative side of our business, it became more and more clear to me that while data was already playing a very important role, that it should not be used to determine what stories are told ... If we had tried to mine all the data that we had at the time to determine whether we should make a superhero movie that was essentially about an Afrofuturistic world with a Black cast, the data probably would have said, don’t do that. And “Black Panther” never would have been made..."
Iger also adds that technology should not be the determining factor on "whether a story is worthy of being told," instead saying that a movie like Black Panther should be "in the hands of people who will tell it really well." Iger, who spent 15 years as Disney's CEO, still acknowledges the importance of data, saying it is a valuable tool for tracking the statistical side of film and TV projects. However, he reiterates that creative decisions to make new, trail-blazing films like Black Panther should not be entirely down to that, saying "no matter how much technology enables ... I don't think you get the right answers to that."
A world without Black Panther is quite unimaginable, and fans are grateful that Disney went through with creating the now-iconic film, which cemented Boseman's legacy as one of the MCU's most beloved characters. With Marvel Studios now well into Phase 4, the film's sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has experienced some behind-the-scenes difficulty recently, including production delays caused by injury and COVID-19 cases. However, Disney and Marvel seem to have remained committed to telling the story of Wakanda, and countless devoted Black Panther fans the world over is more than enough data to prove that extremely worthwhile.
Source: The New York Times (via We Got This Covered)