Watch the New ‘Black Panther’ Trailer — Then Explain It to Me!

That’s Boseman as the ruthless Black Panther (Disney)

Well, the second trailer for Black Panther certainly looks bad ass. And star Chadwick Boseman (the so-so Marshall, 42, Get on Up) has legit presence in the title role. Otherwise — um, truth time — I have no idea what is going on in this flashy extended look for the next big Marvel Universe extravaganza. This is not a knock against the movie. Black Panther is cool; I am not.

From what I gather, our hero King T’Challa (Boseman), is preparing to defend his beautiful African homeland, Wakanda, from something evil. Your villain: Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger, who threatens T’Challa’s newly assumed rule of the country. “I waited my entire life for this,” he says. “The world is going to start over. I’m gonna burn it all.” The fact that Jordan is appearing in a Marvel movie that is not a sequel to Fantastic Four is already a chase sequence in the right direction. Also, there will be some sort of showdown set on top of cars barreling through city streets.

But wait, there’s more! We get a blend of beautiful imagery and major action scenes courtesy of talented director Ryan Coogler (Creed, Fruitvale Station). We are warned several times that the revolution will not be televised — what about an uprising? We see a glimpse of Angela Bassett as T’Challa’s proud mama and Martin Freeman as the bureaucrat that appeared in Captain America: Civil War. I may or may not have Googled to confirm the latter. No signs of any other of our familiar superheroes. I’m going to go ahead and wager that Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron-Man will not show up and offer up snarky comments about Black Panther’s costume.

What else am I missing? And who wants to be my plus-one for the screening to explain it all to me?

(Black Panther opens in theaters on Friday February 16)

Also published on Medium.