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STEM Movie Spotlight: Black Panther

By: Rital Miller & Joslyn Stamp


Black Panther directed by Ryan Coogler follows the story of a Wakandan superhero, T’Challa, the newly crowned king. Wakanda is a hidden and technologically advanced African nation powered by the metal vibranium. After Erik Killmonger challenges and dethrones T’challa to exploit Wakanda’s technology, T’Challa works with his sister, general, and ex-girlfriend to reclaim his throne and ultimately open Wakanda to the world, sharing its technology and resources to help aid humanity.


A STEM aspect incorporated is parallel chemistry, as the movie features the fictional element vibranium, which plays a central role in Wakanda’s technology and Wakanda being the best country in the fictional world. It is depicted as a near magical substance with unique physical properties, such as absorbing sound, energy, and vibrations. It powers almost everything in Wakanda, from transportation to weapons to medical technology. The science of vibranium, through fiction echoes real-world discussions about advanced materials like graphene or new energy sources. The movie also showcases the futuristic inventions that Princess Shuri, T’Challa’s sister, develops. This helps empower young girls and underrepresented minorities to pursue STEM careers. The Wakandan tribe being so strong and powerful, when Africans are considered minorities in Hollywood, helps empower the next generation of viewers to challenge stereotypes and live up to a higher potential. Shuri’s contributions and the Wakandan culture present science not only as cool but as a tool for societal development and peacebuilding. 


It also shows SEL aspects of emotional intelligence and leadership. After the death of T’Challa’s father, he struggles with grief and self-doubt as he feels the pressure to retake the throne for his family. During his first battle where he was challenged for the throne, he uses empathy to spare M’Baku out of respect for the Jabari tribe. When running Wakanda, T-Challa wanted to guarantee the safety of his people and make sure the technology didn’t get distributed into the wrong hands. This added a lot of pressure on T’Challa when he made big decisions, such as opening up Wakanda at the end of the movie. 


After watching this movie, I would recommend that kids 8+ watch this production due to their imagery and the violent topics like death. But I encourage young students to watch this to be inspired by character and STEM events and to encourage students to pursue science, technology, engineering, math, and social and emotional learning. 


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