Oprah Reviews ‘Black Panther’: It’s “Phenomenal”

Among the thousands who went to see Black Panther early this weekend and positioned the Marvel movie to make box-office history was former talk-show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey. And after seeing the film with her longtime partner Stedman Graham on Saturday, Winfrey’s verdict is that it’s “phenomenal.”

In a tweet posted Saturday, the television personality wrote, “Just saw it with Stedman. It’s Phenomenal!! Layers and layers of it. Wakunda ForEveeeerrrr! #BlackPanther.” 

With a nearly all-black cast and crew and a $200 million budget, Black Panther is a historic project for Marvel and Hollywood at large. Winfrey has been vocal about her support for representation in entertainment, a theme she returned to during her January speech upon accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, which she opened by recalling the personal significance of watching Sidney Poitier accept an Oscar.

Winfrey also will soon be appearing in A Wrinkle in Time, a Disney tentpole directed by Ava DuVernay and starring a young black girl and a multicolored cast, which is set to bow next month.

On Saturday, Black Panther was pacing to collect a historic $205 million to $210 million at the box office over the course of the weekend, a first for the long President’s Day frame and outperforming previous record-holder Deadpool.

Twitter trolls attempted to dim the film’s success on Saturday by falsely claiming that they had been assaulted at screenings. 

“The racists are out and rearing their ugly heads with lots of fake tweets about violence at #BlackPanther screenings. In truth, people from all walks of life have been enjoying the film together this weekend,” Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn tweeted in response. “Don’t let this BS scare you away.”

Read Winfrey’s full tweet below.

Just saw it with Stedman. It’s Phenomenal!! Layers and layers of it. Wakunda ForEveeeerrrr! #BlackPanther

— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) February 18, 2018