Can a movie spark a revolution?

Motion pictures can do a lot of things. They can move us to tears, force us to rethink our perspective on the world, even introduce us to corners of the world we never knew existed. But can they truly be a revolutionary force for change? It's a lot to ask of a film, knowing that, regardless of all the passion and feeling behind them, they're still the by-product of a multi-billion dollar commercial industry. After all, what's the one thing most, if not all, successful industries try to avoid? Revolution.

But that's the question that was posed as Marvel's Black Panther roared its way into theatres around the world last February. And the answer for many, when it comes to this very movie, is a resounding yes. It could. In fact, in its own way, it already has. Last month, the Academy revealed the movie had been nominated for Best Picture—making it the first comic book film to be up for this honour. This was one of the seven nominations Black Panther received.

"This movie is hard to imagine," Forest Whitaker, who plays Zuri, one of Wakanda's elder statesmen and advisors to T'Challa, told E! News' Justin Sylvester when asked if he ever thought a movie like this would ever see the light of day. "I could see lots of films coming forward and peeking their head and showing us something different that we haven't seen before. This one has so many different layers, so many different messages, so much humour and pathos and pain, you know what I mean? I think it's unique. I think Ryan did something that's going to go down in time."

In fact, in the lead-up to the film's February 16 release, it already had secured itself a spot in the history books. Aside from its first-of-its-kind cast for a comic book movie, Black Panther was projected to take in at least $250 million globally over President's Day weekend, according to analyst projections. Fandango had revealed that the film its No. 4 pre-seller of all time, behind only the last three Star Wars movies. With more than 200 grassroots campaigns in black communities across the globe arranging screenings in order to commemorate the film's release, it was safe to say that anticipation for the film was at a high that we don't see all that often.