Empathy Matters: How ‘Black Panther’ Creates One Of The Best Superhero Movie Villains Ever

There’s a lot to admire about “Black Panther.” A huge financial success for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Black Panther,” directed by Ryan Coogler captured the zeitgeist by crafting a complicated story and delivering three-dimensional, humanistic comic book characters. But the one element that reverberated most, and ultimately contributed to the film’s success, was its antagonist: Erik Killmonger.

Played by Michael B. Jordan, Killmonger deeply resonated with audiences and was called one of Marvel’s best, most compelling villains yet by various outlets. This is the subject of a recent video essay from Lessons From The Screenplay. In a comparison of sorts to “The Dark Knight‘s” Joker, iconically played by the late Heath Ledger, Killmonger is portrayed as an empathetic villain. The audience understands his motives. The means by which he chips away at T’Challa’s thoughts offers an unexpected empathy to Killmonger. His circumstances are, after all, tragic. Killmonger’s past and the reckoning he wishes to bring while outlandish and riddled with violent means is therefore, understandable even if it comes from a position of vengeance.

This is where Killmonger and The Joker rift. Joker is such an impactful villain because his sole purpose is to wreak havoc in Gotham to the point of destroying Batman. He has no backstory, and no discernible reason for doing this. But his enigmatic qualities envelop him, making him one with his villainy; the ultimate madman. Killmonger, however, has a past that audiences see and a perspective that is communicated so the audience can understand him to the point of empathizing with his cause.

As highlighted in the video, co-writer of “Black Panther” Joe Robert Cole emphasized the perspective of the villain. “I think the best villains are the ones that have a point of view that’s relatable and that you can empathize with,” said Cole. “Sometimes it’s how far you take things that makes you a villain, and not necessarily the perspective.” Cole and Coogler took the ingredients of a villain and imbued him with immense empathy, making one of the year’s most complicated characters in one of 2018’s best films thus far. If only all superhero movies could figure this out and hopefully “Black Panther” will lead as an example moving forward.