Black Super Heroines We Need to See on the Big Screen
With the record-breaking release of The Black Panther, comic book fans and the rest of the Black population have come to theaters to witness the first movie about an African hero who is also the leader of the African kingdom, Wakanda. The movie has strong feminist overtones and depicts the Dora Milaje – T’Challa’s corps of female warriors – as equal to men. They can share the same knowledge and opportunity as their men counterparts; they are the Black Panther’s bodyguard for crying out loud! It’s representation that is important to see and recognize. Although the creation and reception of the movie have been an epic feat, there is still more progress to be made.
There are too many black superheroines that are unknown to the commercial world (think about how many people didn’t know about T’Challa before this movie’s debut) and it would be awesome if we could get an opportunity to experience them in the same way that we’ve now experienced Okoye, Nakia, and Shuri. Wonder Woman just got her shot, let’s see who we have to choose from.
Born to a Kenyan tribal princess and an American photographer, Ororo became orphaned at 5 years old when she survived a fighter jet crashing into her home. She wandered the streets of Cairo for weeks until she was picked up by a benign street lord, Achmed el-Gibar. During her time alongside him, she became a prolific thief.
In her teenage years, she followed an inner urge to wander into the Serengeti. It is there that she first displays her mutant ability to control the weather and she uses those powers to rescue T’Challa from kidnappers. Once Ororo reached her ancestors' homeland on the Serengeti Plain in Kenya she was taken in by an elderly tribal woman named Ainet who became her surrogate mother and taught her how her powers worked with nature. Upon controlling her powers, she became a rain goddess to African tribes.
After working alongside the X-Men to defeat Deluge, Ororo was recruited by Professor Xavier and given the codename Storm. Ororo’s stint with the X-Men is what helped her to embrace her darker side, which showed in her drastically changed appearance – matching her inner-self with her iconic punk drab. After Decimation, an event that caused 90% of mutants of the world to lose their powers, Storm left the X-Men to go back to Africa. She rekindled her relationship with T’Challa, married him, and became the queen of Wakanda.
An X-Man and a queen, go figure!
Storm is an Alpha-Level Mutant with the potential to be an Omega Level Mutant – one with the most powerful genetic potential of their mutant abilities. Storm possesses the psionic ability to control ALL forms of weather manipulation – atmokinesis – along with expert combatant skills, and ties to magic due to her maternal ancestorial bloodline.
Misty Knight graduated from NYC’s police academy with top honors and became a patrolwoman for the Twelfth Precinct. Early in her career, she rescued Colleen Wing from a Manhattan gun battle, and the two soon became best friends. Another assignment found Misty preventing terrorists from bombing a bank. She retrieved the bomb, but it exploded before she could dispose of it – she lost her arm. It was replaced with a cybernetic limb from Stark International. Although she was removed from active patrol duty, and she left the force so that she wouldn’t have to be on desk duty, Misty and Colleen started a private investigation firm, Nightwing Restorations Ltd.
Misty and Colleen worked closely with Heroes for Hire, a group of superpowered mercenaries who hire out their aid in exchange for money. Misty ended up overhauling the Heroes for Hire team with herself acting as “control” and it merged with Nightwing Restorations.
Her group affiliations included: Heroes for Hire/Nightwing Restorations/ Daughters of the Dragon, NYPD, and an ally of Iron Fist and Luke Cage.
Misty Knight is a highly skilled combatant who in addition to her police combat training is proficient in martial arts and possesses near-perfect aim with firearms. She is also a superb detective, having graduated at the top of her class at the police academy and earned a degree in criminology. Her bionic arm is superhumanly strong, and she can punch a target with incredible force, or crush objects as tough as steel in her vise-like grip. However, since the rest of her body is not cybernetically enhanced, she cannot lift objects heavier than her back, shoulders, and legs can physically support.
In ancient Ghana, the great warrior Tantu asked Anansi the Spider to create a totem that would give the wearer all the powers of the animal kingdom. The only stipulation for partaking in the power is that the wearer would use the power to protect the innocent. Tantu used the totem to become Africa’s first legendary hero. The totem was passed down to Tantu’s descendants until it reached Mari.
Mari heard the legend of the Tantu Totem from her family, as she grew up in a small African village. Her father Richard Jiwe, the village priest was a sole caretaker after her mother was killed by poachers. Her father was later killed by his half-brother, General Maksai, who wanted the Tantu Totem for himself – the totem was in Jiwe’s possession.
Mari fled to America, where she established her identity for herself as Mari McCabe in New York City as a model. She traveled the world with her newfound wealth. On a trip back to Africa, she came across her uncle and stole back the Tantu Totem. Using its powers, she became Vixen.
During her superhero stint, she was apart of the Justice League, the Justice League of America, and the Suicide Squad.
Vixen possesses the innate ability to make direct contact with the Earth's morphogenetic field, which is sometimes known as the "Red". This contact with the "Red" allows her to draw upon the abilities of any animal that has ever lived on the planet. By simply focusing on a specific animal, she can draw its talent directly from the morphogenetic field and mimic its abilities, thus giving herself a variety of superhuman powers. While the full extent of Vixen's control over the morphogenetic field is unknown, she has on occasions drawn pure energy from it and displayed this energy as a force field and energy claws. Occasionally, she has been known to physically transform into animals or assume a hybrid form, in which she maintains a humanoid form but with certain animal adaptations.
Our favorite Wakandan princess has a different storyline in the comics than in the new depiction of Black Panther, but she’s just as loyal and devoted to her country. Shuri is T'Chaka's youngest child and only daughter. From a very young age, Shuri coveted the Black Panther mantle. She attempts to challenge the then-Black Panther, her uncle S'yan, for the mantle, only to discover that he had already been defeated by her older half-brother T'Challa.
She earned her chance to rule the thrown after T’Challa rejected a request by Prince Namor of Atlantis to join the Cabal, a secret council of supervillains. He is attacked and left in a comatose state. Queen Ororo nominates Shuri as his successor, and she successfully completes the various trials, granting herself access to the heart-shaped herb. However, when she consumes the herb, the Wakandan Panther God does not imbue her with the powers of the Black Panther, instead of rejecting her due to her lifelong jealousy of her brother's mantle and her arrogance in its presence.
When the powerful villain Morlun threatens to annihilate Wakanda entirely, Shuri takes on the Black Panther identity and outfit anyway and manages to both save Wakanda and resurrect her comatose brother. Through her humble act of self-sacrifice, she earns the mantle of the Black Panther, and the Panther God grants her its accompanying powers.
Before undergoing the trials to become the Black Panther, Shuri was an extensively trained martial artist. After the trials, like the Black Panthers before her, Shuri consumed the heart-shaped herb; this granted her enhanced speed, agility, strength, endurance, and senses. Her uniform is composed of vibranium. Shuri was introduced new supernatural abilities from a griot spirit while in the Djalia. These abilities allowed her to transform her body into a flexible stone-like material which also granted her an enhanced durability that cannot be dented by normal gunfire or powerful directed energy weapons. She is also capable of Animorphism which allows her to transform herself and whoever she is in direct contact with into a flock of blackbirds or singular large dark bird.
Monica Rambeau was a dedicated lieutenant in the New Orleans harbor patrol and operated as a cargo ship captain. Trying to prevent the creation of a dangerous weapon, Rambeau was exposed to extra-dimensional energy. As a result, she became able to convert her body to energy. She decided to use her powers to fight crime and named herself Captain Marvel. Rambeau sought out the Avengers for help in mastering her new powers and became a member-in-training of their group. Befriended and mentored by Avengers Veterans Captain America and the Wasp, Monica soon graduated to full membership, serving a lengthy stint during which she became one of the team's most valuable and respected members and their first African-American heroine.
Rambeau later replaced the Wasp as leader of the Avengers, commanding them in battles against the X-Men, the Olympian Gods, and the Super-Adaptoid. She remained leader until one mission where she transformed herself into a massive lightning bolt to fight a gigantic sea monster. She accidentally contacted the water and conducted herself across the surface of the ocean – her atoms were dispersed so widely that she barely regained physical form. Rambeau retired from the team, regained her physical health, then her powers, and stayed connected with the Avengers to serve as a reservist.
Due to bombardment by extra-dimensional energies, Rambeau can transform herself into any form of energy within the electromagnetic spectrum (cosmic rays, gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet radiation, visible light, electricity, infrared radiation, microwaves, radio waves, and neutrinos). By assuming an energy-form, she gains all that energy's properties. She can also project these energies from her body while she is in human form, usually in the form of energy blasts from her hands.
All these heroic characters can stand alone in a movie depicting their lives and I say it’s about time to see one of these lovely ladies on the big screen.
There are too many black superheroines that are unknown to the commercial world (think about how many people didn’t know about T’Challa before this movie’s debut) and it would be awesome if we could get an opportunity to experience them in the same way that we’ve now experienced Okoye, Nakia, and Shuri. Wonder Woman just got her shot, let’s see who we have to choose from.
Ororo Munroe a.k.a. Storm
In her teenage years, she followed an inner urge to wander into the Serengeti. It is there that she first displays her mutant ability to control the weather and she uses those powers to rescue T’Challa from kidnappers. Once Ororo reached her ancestors' homeland on the Serengeti Plain in Kenya she was taken in by an elderly tribal woman named Ainet who became her surrogate mother and taught her how her powers worked with nature. Upon controlling her powers, she became a rain goddess to African tribes.
After working alongside the X-Men to defeat Deluge, Ororo was recruited by Professor Xavier and given the codename Storm. Ororo’s stint with the X-Men is what helped her to embrace her darker side, which showed in her drastically changed appearance – matching her inner-self with her iconic punk drab. After Decimation, an event that caused 90% of mutants of the world to lose their powers, Storm left the X-Men to go back to Africa. She rekindled her relationship with T’Challa, married him, and became the queen of Wakanda.
"I am a woman, a mutant, a thief, an X-Men, a lover, a wife, a queen. I am all these things. I am Storm, and for me, there are no such things as limits."
―Storm
An X-Man and a queen, go figure!
Storm is an Alpha-Level Mutant with the potential to be an Omega Level Mutant – one with the most powerful genetic potential of their mutant abilities. Storm possesses the psionic ability to control ALL forms of weather manipulation – atmokinesis – along with expert combatant skills, and ties to magic due to her maternal ancestorial bloodline.
Mercedes "Misty" Knight
Misty Knight graduated from NYC’s police academy with top honors and became a patrolwoman for the Twelfth Precinct. Early in her career, she rescued Colleen Wing from a Manhattan gun battle, and the two soon became best friends. Another assignment found Misty preventing terrorists from bombing a bank. She retrieved the bomb, but it exploded before she could dispose of it – she lost her arm. It was replaced with a cybernetic limb from Stark International. Although she was removed from active patrol duty, and she left the force so that she wouldn’t have to be on desk duty, Misty and Colleen started a private investigation firm, Nightwing Restorations Ltd.Misty and Colleen worked closely with Heroes for Hire, a group of superpowered mercenaries who hire out their aid in exchange for money. Misty ended up overhauling the Heroes for Hire team with herself acting as “control” and it merged with Nightwing Restorations.
Her group affiliations included: Heroes for Hire/Nightwing Restorations/ Daughters of the Dragon, NYPD, and an ally of Iron Fist and Luke Cage.
Misty Knight is a highly skilled combatant who in addition to her police combat training is proficient in martial arts and possesses near-perfect aim with firearms. She is also a superb detective, having graduated at the top of her class at the police academy and earned a degree in criminology. Her bionic arm is superhumanly strong, and she can punch a target with incredible force, or crush objects as tough as steel in her vise-like grip. However, since the rest of her body is not cybernetically enhanced, she cannot lift objects heavier than her back, shoulders, and legs can physically support.
Mari Jiwe McCabe a.k.a. Vixen
In ancient Ghana, the great warrior Tantu asked Anansi the Spider to create a totem that would give the wearer all the powers of the animal kingdom. The only stipulation for partaking in the power is that the wearer would use the power to protect the innocent. Tantu used the totem to become Africa’s first legendary hero. The totem was passed down to Tantu’s descendants until it reached Mari.Mari heard the legend of the Tantu Totem from her family, as she grew up in a small African village. Her father Richard Jiwe, the village priest was a sole caretaker after her mother was killed by poachers. Her father was later killed by his half-brother, General Maksai, who wanted the Tantu Totem for himself – the totem was in Jiwe’s possession.
Mari fled to America, where she established her identity for herself as Mari McCabe in New York City as a model. She traveled the world with her newfound wealth. On a trip back to Africa, she came across her uncle and stole back the Tantu Totem. Using its powers, she became Vixen.
"I have all the powers of Africa now. From the fox to the elephant, from the spider to the man—I am the life of Africa—and I believe in life."
-Vixen
During her superhero stint, she was apart of the Justice League, the Justice League of America, and the Suicide Squad.
Vixen possesses the innate ability to make direct contact with the Earth's morphogenetic field, which is sometimes known as the "Red". This contact with the "Red" allows her to draw upon the abilities of any animal that has ever lived on the planet. By simply focusing on a specific animal, she can draw its talent directly from the morphogenetic field and mimic its abilities, thus giving herself a variety of superhuman powers. While the full extent of Vixen's control over the morphogenetic field is unknown, she has on occasions drawn pure energy from it and displayed this energy as a force field and energy claws. Occasionally, she has been known to physically transform into animals or assume a hybrid form, in which she maintains a humanoid form but with certain animal adaptations.
Shuri
She earned her chance to rule the thrown after T’Challa rejected a request by Prince Namor of Atlantis to join the Cabal, a secret council of supervillains. He is attacked and left in a comatose state. Queen Ororo nominates Shuri as his successor, and she successfully completes the various trials, granting herself access to the heart-shaped herb. However, when she consumes the herb, the Wakandan Panther God does not imbue her with the powers of the Black Panther, instead of rejecting her due to her lifelong jealousy of her brother's mantle and her arrogance in its presence.
When the powerful villain Morlun threatens to annihilate Wakanda entirely, Shuri takes on the Black Panther identity and outfit anyway and manages to both save Wakanda and resurrect her comatose brother. Through her humble act of self-sacrifice, she earns the mantle of the Black Panther, and the Panther God grants her its accompanying powers.
Before undergoing the trials to become the Black Panther, Shuri was an extensively trained martial artist. After the trials, like the Black Panthers before her, Shuri consumed the heart-shaped herb; this granted her enhanced speed, agility, strength, endurance, and senses. Her uniform is composed of vibranium. Shuri was introduced new supernatural abilities from a griot spirit while in the Djalia. These abilities allowed her to transform her body into a flexible stone-like material which also granted her an enhanced durability that cannot be dented by normal gunfire or powerful directed energy weapons. She is also capable of Animorphism which allows her to transform herself and whoever she is in direct contact with into a flock of blackbirds or singular large dark bird.
Monica Rambeau a.k.a. Spectrum
Monica Rambeau was a dedicated lieutenant in the New Orleans harbor patrol and operated as a cargo ship captain. Trying to prevent the creation of a dangerous weapon, Rambeau was exposed to extra-dimensional energy. As a result, she became able to convert her body to energy. She decided to use her powers to fight crime and named herself Captain Marvel. Rambeau sought out the Avengers for help in mastering her new powers and became a member-in-training of their group. Befriended and mentored by Avengers Veterans Captain America and the Wasp, Monica soon graduated to full membership, serving a lengthy stint during which she became one of the team's most valuable and respected members and their first African-American heroine.Rambeau later replaced the Wasp as leader of the Avengers, commanding them in battles against the X-Men, the Olympian Gods, and the Super-Adaptoid. She remained leader until one mission where she transformed herself into a massive lightning bolt to fight a gigantic sea monster. She accidentally contacted the water and conducted herself across the surface of the ocean – her atoms were dispersed so widely that she barely regained physical form. Rambeau retired from the team, regained her physical health, then her powers, and stayed connected with the Avengers to serve as a reservist.
Due to bombardment by extra-dimensional energies, Rambeau can transform herself into any form of energy within the electromagnetic spectrum (cosmic rays, gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet radiation, visible light, electricity, infrared radiation, microwaves, radio waves, and neutrinos). By assuming an energy-form, she gains all that energy's properties. She can also project these energies from her body while she is in human form, usually in the form of energy blasts from her hands.
All these heroic characters can stand alone in a movie depicting their lives and I say it’s about time to see one of these lovely ladies on the big screen.
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