Hollywood spent 21 years pretending this didn't happen first.
Michael Jai White headlined Spawn in 1997. A Black actor leading a major comic book movie, two decades before Black Panther made the idea look brand new.
The face in this clip cost him two to four hours of makeup every shoot day. Glued-on bodysuit, yellow contacts that shredded his eyes, a mask that choked his breathing. He credited his martial arts background for surviving days most actors would have walked off.
The film was a New Line gamble. Greenlit around $20M, ballooned past $40M once early effects footage came back, because the producers believed they could match Men in Black's visuals at half the cost. It pulled roughly $88M and got buried by critics on arrival.
Now look at what it opened. Blade arrived in 1998. Luke Cage, Black Panther, the entire run of Black-led comic adaptations followed. Black Panther alone cleared $1.3 billion in 2018.
The movie people file away as a forgotten misfire was the proof of concept for one of the most valuable lanes in modern Hollywood. White carried it there first, under a mask that barely let him breathe.
Uncle Iroh voice actor Greg Baldwin criticizes Paramount over the state of the 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' franchise
“Paramount doesn’t care about ATLA ... The new regime at Paramount is straight up evil"
"I can speak freely because I’m 65 years old and my pocketful of fucks is seriously depleted"
"Working as a paralegal at various studios in LA for thirty years…I had the opportunity to observe studio executives closely. They’re generally a slippery and clueless bunch who shouldn’t be allowed near anything remotely creative…but the new regime at Paramount is straight up evil"
"These soulless bastards have nothing but contempt for a show about grace and redemption and the struggle against fascism"
"ATLA is a mystery to them."
"They. Do. Not. Value. The. Franchise."
"Who should lose their jobs to AI? Answer… Studio Executives. Ironically…those cockroaches will be the last to go"
"In conclusion… Fuck you, Paramount"
(via @GregBaldwinIroh)
Idk man, seeing the emotion from Victor Wembanyama after clinching the Western Conference is so damn cool…
I love every second of it. Superstars just aren’t built like this. Shit absolutely means something to him. He’s one of one. Cool as hell.