THOMASG รีทวีตแล้ว
Hollywood spent 21 years pretending this didn't happen first.
Michael Jai White headlined Spawn in 1997. A Black actor leading a major comic book movie, two decades before Black Panther made the idea look brand new.
The face in this clip cost him two to four hours of makeup every shoot day. Glued-on bodysuit, yellow contacts that shredded his eyes, a mask that choked his breathing. He credited his martial arts background for surviving days most actors would have walked off.
The film was a New Line gamble. Greenlit around $20M, ballooned past $40M once early effects footage came back, because the producers believed they could match Men in Black's visuals at half the cost. It pulled roughly $88M and got buried by critics on arrival.
Now look at what it opened. Blade arrived in 1998. Luke Cage, Black Panther, the entire run of Black-led comic adaptations followed. Black Panther alone cleared $1.3 billion in 2018.
The movie people file away as a forgotten misfire was the proof of concept for one of the most valuable lanes in modern Hollywood. White carried it there first, under a mask that barely let him breathe.
Neb | 🏳️🌈@NebsGoodTakes
Spawn (1997)
English
