Extra Credit: Five Movies Set in Fictional Kingdoms to Stream After ‘Black Panther’
In the weekly column Extra Credit, Charles Bramesco recommends supplemental viewing for moviegoers whose interests have been piqued by a given week’s big new release.
The release of Marvel’s latest big-ticket superhero project, Black Panther, arrives with a more uplifting timbre, as black audiences everywhere have celebrated the sorely needed representation and African pride bursting from every wide shot. Among the other welcome reactions has been an outpouring of appreciation for black superheroes and black cinema at large — here in New York, the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s cinema has been running an ongoing series of movies featuring black heroes all month.
These bases have been sufficiently covered by people a good deal smarter than I am, so this week’s streaming recommendations will take another angle on Black Panther. Among the most widely praised aspects of the film is the vibrancy and detail with which director Ryan Coogler realized the fictitious hidden kingdom of Wakanda. That imaginary haven now takes its place in the ranks of great nations that don’t exactly “exist.” We have five more movies about fictional kingdoms that you can stream right now. Read on, and don’t forget your passport: