Meet ninjo or should I say the Black Panther.
Yes, I believe that Joey Ansah, who starred in the Bourne Ultimatum and underground, would make a perfect fit if put in the role of the Black Panther. Although he is most famous for his close-combat encounter with Matt Damon (as Desh) few people know of their similarities. Just as the Marvel character that he should be depicting he does come from a high class family (even though T’Challa is a king and that cannot be topped) so certain mannerisms and behaviors should come naturally. He is after all the son of Kofi Ansah, fashion icon, and one of his uncles is quite the musician. As an actor his pedigree is rather impressive since he can be spotted as actor, fight choreographer and director (see Street Fighter Legacy which he co-directed and which features Tekken’s live action movie star John Foo.) I would give him my vote over Michael jai White (whom I have nothing against and which I would rather play T’Chaka) also for the fact that he may be able to project this animalistic combat form that we have seen the Black Panther display as a fighting style, a style that elements that he’s learned from Capoeira, Ninjutsu and his experience in break dancing (for the extraordinary feats that come from it) can be synthesized into some African MMA combat form. So what do you say we give the British Ghanaian martial artist prodigy a welcoming hand as it is time to pass the mantle of the Black Panther to the next King of Wakanda.
Let’s take a look at his showreel:
Joey Ansah Showreel/ Acting Highlight 2011 from Joey Ansah on Vimeo.
More can be seen at http://www.joeyansah.com/showreels. Enjoy!