A London-based Nigerian artist is stoking the flames of Black Panther hype by reimagining the movie posters with small kids. As part of a project commissioned by the Looks Like Me talent agency, visual artist Àsìkò has been dressing up British kids as Wakandan warriors. The results speak for themselves and may even prove a more effective advertisement for the film than the original images.
The Looks Like Me talent agency’s stated goal is to redefine beauty standards and surface imagery of underrepresented groups in the UK. Black Panther, on top of smashing ticket presale records, it the first Marvel film with a predominantly black cast, a fact that has a lot of kids excited both in American and abroad. And understandably so. “As a kid who read comics, Black Panther was one of the very few black superheroes I came across,” explained Àsìkò in an Instagram post. “For a child, it is a beautiful thing to see yourself represented in a positive light in pop culture.”
Hundreds will get an up-close look at the portraits when they are displayed inside of a London movie theater. Àsìkò notes that Black Panther is a hero “steeped in culture and heritage.” Though the character hails from a make-believe country, the traditions on display in Black Panther comic books are a pastiche of real African cultures.
Àsìkò seemed proud of the project’s profound nature. In the caption of the portrait modeled after Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o’s character, Àsìkò shared a letter written to the actress by a very young fan. The letter read: “Dear Lupita, I think you’re really lucky to be this black but yet this successful in Hollywood overnight. I was just about to buy Dencia’s Whitenicious cream [a bleaching agent] to lighten my skin when you appeared on the world map and saved me.”
