Around here in Nerdlandia (them more than me), we love comic books, Marvel reboots and some other weird shit. I myself am more into classic sci-fi and fantasy on the geekdom spectrum: Harry Potter. Lord of the Rings. Star Wars. So when I saw the trailer for Disney’s big-screen adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s science fantasy standard, A Wrinkle in Time, I was mystified, mesmerized and smiling from ear to ear.
Director Ava DuVernay, who actually turned down the chance to direct Black Panther, obviously had other plans, as evidenced by the trailer drop of Disney’s Wrinkle on Saturday. With the words, “The universe is open wide. For all of us,” DuVernay’s dark, eerie shots channel Octavia, Rowling and Disney’s blockbusting budget to serve up some fiery witchy delight.
Wrinkle, due in March 2018, has all the cool people, including crying white boy Chris Pine (sidenote: Don’t let them meme you to death, Chris—Glory was tear-worthy!); Mother Oracle Oprah Winfrey, looking like a new-millennial Wiz; Reese Witherspoon; Gugu Mbatha-Raw; Mindy Kaling. And of course my main man who gets dumb with it, Zach Galifianakis (whose name I still cannot pronounce—take that, Onion!)
But it is 14-year-old Storm Reid, who made her film debut in 12 Years a Slave, in the role of Meg Murry, who is revolutionary. Young Storm is about to debut in a star-making role, giving little black girls everywhere—hell, girls everywhere—life and a heroine who’s full of valor and grit (or strength, courage and wisdom, in India.Arie parlance) and set to save the world. When Oprah commands, “Be a warrior,” Storm’s Meg replies, “I’ll try” (but you know she will!)
A LITTLE BLACK GIRL STARS IN A FANTASTICAL MOVIE, and I rack my brain to see if we’ve seen her before. Is she the first one? Our shining black Hermione? Or a Rue from Hunger Games in a starring role? The words “Where have you been all my life?” have never meant so much. I didn’t even know how much I needed her until I saw her.
What I know for sure is that with Black Panther expected to drop mid-February and Wrinkle a few weeks later, I don’t know if you will be able to get us out of theaters this winter. The universe may implode from all that black imaginative power and pretty.
Or maybe it’ll just bust wide open. Shall we?