Black Panther: The official language of Wakanda is a real language

Less than a month before the release of Black Panther, John Kani, who plays King T'Chaka, has revealed some details about the official language of Wakanda and how Ryan Coogler chose him for the film. It is the isiXhosa and T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and his father during his appearance in Captain America: Civil War. And, although it is the language of a fictitious kingdom created by Marvel, the isiXhosa really exists.

During an interview with MTV, Kani recounted how Ryan Coogler, director of the film, decided the language for Wakanda. "The director and I had the challenge to come up with something, in line with the film, to tell my son Atandwa that he is also my son in real life," Kani confessed.

It was then that he said something in isiXhosa, an official South African language that Coogler loved "and everyone on the set." So, the director incorporated him into the film as the language of the Black Panther realm.

It is not the first time that the actor intervenes in the language for a Marvel movie. Something similar happened with the third installment of Captain America. "Even when I shot Civil War, I was the language expert and my fellow Americans said, 'Give me something fast', they were referring to isiXhosa," he explained. And when he finished filming his scenes in the movie, it was his son who helped others with the language. "He assumed the position of language consultant," he said.

We will have to wait until February 16, 2018, date of the premiere of the film, to listen to the accent that Black Panther and T'Chaka will have. They will be joined by Michael B. Jordan and Andy Serkis as the film's villains; Lupita Nyong'o, who will play Nakia, one of the king's bodyguards; Angela Bassett, as Ramonda, mother of T'Challa and Forest Whitaker as Zuri, one of the strong men within the court.