Do we like them?

Do we like Black Panther (T'Challa)?

A character from Black Panther (2018)

Our score: 8 out of 10. Yes, we'd back him. He's honourable, merciful and brave, and he's willing to question his own country's old ways. He can be stubborn, and his rivals sometimes have the sharper arguments.

T'Challa is the prince of Wakanda, a secretive African nation that looks humble from the outside but is far ahead of everyone else in technology, thanks to its supply of vibranium. He is trained from childhood as a fighter and heir. When his father dies, he takes the throne and the mantle of the Black Panther. In the film he returns home to be crowned and finds that ruling a nation is harder than winning a fight.

T'Challa is dignified, thoughtful and dryly funny around his family and friends. He leans on a brilliant younger sister, Shuri, and on formidable allies like Okoye and Nakia. His big struggle is whether Wakanda should keep hiding or help the outside world. Critics note that the film gives him a rival whose anger is rooted in real grievances. This makes T'Challa's choices harder and his decency more convincing. He does lose points for clinging to tradition for a long time and for being upstaged by his supporting cast.

Erik Killmonger, a Wakandan outsider with a score to settle, challenges T'Challa for the crown and beats him. T'Challa has to recover and fight to take Wakanda back. He wins, but he also takes Killmonger's argument seriously. He ends the film opening Wakanda to the world, which is the change that earns him most of his score.