[0:06]With Black Panther, I had never done a Marvel film, so it was a huge challenge. How to build a superhero suit was brand new and I had a lot to learn.
[0:20]Ruth's Academy Award-nominated work has been featured in films that capture the black experience, including Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, Amistad, and Selma. What was so thrilling was to create this world of the Black Panther, this world of Wakanda that was based in African culture and then reimagining them in a futuristic model. Even though Black Panther is set in a fictional world, Ruth looked to the real world for inspiration. We looked at all of the different tribes around the continent of Africa, the Zulu, the Himba, the Xhosa. The Dora Milaje are the highest fighting force of Wakanda. They wear the neck rings of the Ndebele, and we reimagined them as armor pieces. This is Zuri. Zuri is our shaman of Wakanda, and we really wanted him to represent all people, all nations, all tribes. But I did borrow from the Nigerian drapes that you see. I've always loved to do pictures or to recreate images from Black history. I feel like I've been designing for superheroes all of my career. Martin Luther King was a superhero. Malcolm X is a superhero. I hope that when you see the Black Panther, you take away a sense of a new knowledge about Africa.
