With Black History Month coming to an end in a little over a week, the idea of the greatest black superhero crossed my mind this past weekend. And my pick may surprise some of you.
The obvious selection, especially given the character’s prominence in mainstream media as of late, would be Black Panther. With nearly $2 billion in box office receipts and its great portrayal by the late, great Chadwick Boseman, the King of Wakanda is at an all-time high in terms of popularity.
But it’s not him for me, in terms of overall weight and popularity in the comic book movie space.
Who is it then?
Is it Blade, who Wesley Snipes mainstreamed through his cinematic trilogy in the late 1990’s-early 200’s? Or is it Miles Morales or Luke Cage? The former is too new and the latter is too niche.
And the winner is…
For me, it’s a no brainer. It has to Ororo Munroe, more popularly known as Storm.
She is not only one of the most popular and powerful X-Men team members, she’s also one of the most popular and powerful female comic book characters ever. Trust me, I’m not alone in documenting Storm’s importance.
In popular media she’s been depicted by Oscar-winning Halle Berry in the 2000’s X-Men movies, and has been most recently played by Alexandra Shipp in more recent films. It’ll be interesting to see how she’s handled in upcoming Marvel projects.
My pick may be surprising to some but methinks many conic book readers would agree with it.
