Black Panther has an early 100% Rotten Tomatoes score

The film's record-breaking presales have hinted it could surpass all box office expectations

How do you top what's already the most anticipated superhero film of all time?

Black Panther has already broken records after selling more advance tickets than any other superhero film, according to Fandango, with expectations that it could smash opening weekend estimates of $90m (£66.8m).

Adding to the hype is the first wave of critical reviews, with a full positive consensus resulting in (as of now) a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes from 64 reviews.

Our own critic, Geoffrey Macnab, said that the film's director Ryan Coogler "touches on deeper subjects regarding race and oppression while still realising that the main purpose of a Marvel movie is to entertain a mass audience. The result is a film that works just fine as an old-fashioned ripping yarn without ever forgetting its social conscience."

Kenneth Turan of The LA Times called it, "a superhero movie whose characters have integrity and dramatic heft, filled with engaging exploits and credible crises all grounded in a vibrant but convincing reality, laced with socially conscious commentary as well as wicked laughs that don't depend on snark, this is the model of what an involving popular entertainment should be. And even something more."

"Like Taika Waititi before him, Ryan Coogler gives the Marvel template a bold auteurist twist with an African extravaganza that packs a muscular intensity and challenges as much as it exhilarates," Jimi Famurewa of Empire wrote.

The first solo outing for Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa, the titular hero, Marvel's latest traces the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War's events; T'Challa now returns home to Wakanda, only to find a pair of enemies conspiring to bring down his kingdom.

Alongside Boseman, the film boasts the likes of Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Forest Whitaker, Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, and Daniel Kaluuya. It's set to hit UK cinemas on 12 February.

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