Kanye West Plans To Run U.S. Government Like Black Panther’s Wakanda

Presidential candidate Kanye West says he wants to run the White House like the fictional country of Wakanda from Black Panther. Created by the legendary Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the superhero T’Challa aka Black Panther first appeared in Marvel comics in 1966, becoming the first major comic book character to hail from Africa.

Given the significance of Black Panther in Marvel lore, it was only a matter of time before the character made his way to the modern day MCU, and that day finally came in 2016 when Chadwick Boseman appeared as T’Challa in Captain America: Civil War. Black Panther of course received his own standalone film in 2018, and the movie went on to be a sensation with $1.34 billion grossed at the worldwide box office. Black Panther also received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, cementing its place as an artistic triumph and major cultural milestone.

Related: Anthony Mackie Criticizes Marvel’s Diversity Problems (Even Black Panther)

But in rapper and reality star West’s eyes, Black Panther is more than just a significant comic book title and film, it’s an actual blueprint for how to run a government. After recently announcing a 2020 presidential run, West talked to Forbes about some of his plans for after he takes over the White House, and said he wants Wakanda to serve as his model (via ScreenCrush):

A lot of Africans do not like the movie [Black Panther] and representation of themselves in…Wakanda. But I’m gonna use the framework of Wakanda right now because it’s the best explanation of what our design group is going to feel like in the White House…That is a positive idea: you got Kanye West, one of the most powerful humans—I’m not saying the most because you got a lot of alien level superpowers and it’s only collectively that we can set it free. Let’s get back to Wakanda… like in the movie in Wakanda when the king went to visit that lead scientist to have the shoes wrap around her shoes. Just the amount of innovation that can happen, the amount of innovation in medicine—like big pharma—we are going to work, innovate, together.

Of course, in Marvel lore Wakanda is a highly advanced technological civilization tucked away in the wilds of Africa, hidden from the wider world by the choice of its rulers, who seek to protect its secrets. Indeed, the movie Black Panther hinges on a conflict between Wakanda’s ruler T’Challa, who wants to keep his nation’s true nature a secret, and bad guy Killmonger, whose plan is to take over Wakanda and export its technology to the world. Though Killmonger is ultimately defeated, T’Challa finally does see the necessity of bringing Wakanda out of the shadows so its positive advancements can be shared with the world at large and benefit all of humanity.

Though West’s statements are rather vague and more than a little strange, he seems to agree with the ultimate message of the Black Panther movie, which is that humanity is better off if folks come together to innovate and create new technologies that benefit people of all nations. Things do get a little weirder when West talks about setting free alien level superpowers, but perhaps he’s just being metaphorical. Of course, it’s a very long shot that West and his “design team” will ever win the election and take over at the White House. There’s also a decent chance West isn’t even serious about his presidential run but has just embarked on a bizarre publicity stunt the point of which only he understands. Either way, it’s clear West is a fan of Black Panther, and agrees that the movie puts across some solid messages about inclusion and the need for all people to come together in positive ways.

More: Why Marvel Wouldn’t Cast Ernie Hudson As Black Panther’s Father

Source: Forbes (via ScreenCrush)