There’s contacting your favorite movie star over social media, and then there’s this: As caught by Entertainment Weekly, a young fan of Black Panther wrote a letter to star Chadwick Boseman entirely in Wakandan, the language of Marvel’s first title with a black superhero. It wasn’t over snail mail, of course; the boy, named Ben, knew all he had to do was take a photo of him holding up the letter, then get Boseman’s attention over the information superhighway.
“How cool is it that Hannah Beachler created an incredible alphabet for #BlackPanther and now I’m getting fanmail like this?” Boseman wrote in his Instagram caption that broadcasted the picture. “Thanks for letting me know you’re my biggest fan, Ben. You’re awesome and your letter means a lot to me.”
What did Ben’s letter say? Naturally someone was able to crack the code. “Dear Black Panther my name is Ben,” it read. “I am your biggest fan. Could you please write back.”
As Boseman noted, the Wakandan alphabet— inspired by hieroglyphics as well as Chinese, Arabic, and African languages — was created by Beachler, the film’s production designer. Beachler won an Oscar for her work, a feat that made her the first African-American to win that particular trophy.
Of course, there’s a place on the internet where people have already deciphered its language, allowing one to translate your own words into Black Panther-ese. In any case, this is a most impressive piece of fan mail.
(Via EW)