Definitely Not The X-Men: A Crash Course In Marvel's Inhumans

[vid87]

I'm worried about Black Bolt as a main character... He is really not designed that way. He will either be butchered like Ronan, or he will be boring.

Hopefully he will be a supporting character and the movie will run closer to the current run of Inhumans...

At least he could be an interesting focal point for events, particularly about who rules the Inhumans - he's a living weapon who needs others to delegate for him, possibly by interpreting his personal sign language. People could challenge his authority based on his highly destructive powers ("He only needs to sneeze once to kill us all!") or indirect ruling style and argue someone like Maximus would make for a better king. Hell, a coup could be formulated by spreading rumors that Medusa, who I believe is one of the few if only who know his sign language, deliberately misinterprets BB's orders and becomes a sort of puppet-master de-facto ruler, possibly causing further rifts when a separate faction replies that she *should* become queen.

In any case I look forward to more quiet scenes where those two sign to each other, translated for the audience either using subtitles or voice-overs:

Medusa: (Do not heed the gossipers my king. You are a just ruler and the people love you.)

BB: (...no. I have sworn to protect them and they fear me as much as the humans do. Even among the Inhumans, I am a monster.)

Emo? Sure, but by design he's probably going to be a bit of a sad-sack (unless someone knows otherwise and he's actually just the happiest guy ever?). Oh, maybe in this universe someone like Stark develops a face mask that acts as a sonic silencer? Also, what would happen if BB screamed at vibranium? Could that be redirected and focused somehow like in a team-up attack?

 

[The Deadpool]

I'm worried about Black Bolt as a main character... He is really not designed that way. He will either be butchered like Ronan, or he will be boring.

Hopefully he will be a supporting character and the movie will run closer to the current run of Inhumans...

At least he could be an interesting focal point for events, particularly about who rules the Inhumans - he's a living weapon who needs others to delegate for him, possibly by interpreting his personal sign language. People could challenge his authority based on his highly destructive powers ("He only needs to sneeze once to kill us all!") or indirect ruling style and argue someone like Maximus would make for a better king. Hell, a coup could be formulated by spreading rumors that Medusa, who I believe is one of the few if only who know his sign language, deliberately misinterprets BB's orders and becomes a sort of puppet-master de-facto ruler, possibly causing further rifts when a separate faction replies that she *should* become queen.

In any case I look forward to more quiet scenes where those two sign to each other, translated for the audience either using subtitles or voice-overs:

Medusa: (Do not heed the gossipers my king. You are a just ruler and the people love you.)

BB: (...no. I have sworn to protect them and they fear me as much as the humans do. Even among the Inhumans, I am a monster.)

Emo? Sure, but by design he's probably going to be a bit of a sad-sack (unless someone knows otherwise and he's actually just the happiest guy ever?). Oh, maybe in this universe someone like Stark develops a face mask that acts as a sonic silencer? Also, what would happen if BB screamed at vibranium? Could that be redirected and focused somehow like in a team-up attack?

The thing is Black Bolt's defining characteristic is that he is perfect.

No exaggeration. Karnak, the guy who can find a flaw in anything, can't find a flaw in Black Bolt. This is literally a plot point.

It makes him a strange character to follow. He is interesting as a support character. Since he can't speak, you usually don't know what he is thinking. He's one of the most powerful beings on the planet (he can fist fight the Hulk as a near equal, his electron manipulation is stronger than Magneto's magnetism and his whispers destroy cities) and you never know whose side he is on or what he is planning or even what his goal IS...

Making him the main character would either take changing his personality (as you pointed out, leading him to emo or just lacking confidence) or just changing the entire dynamic of the character.

Which they could do. Guardians changed all the characters almost completely and the movie worked. But I'd prefer to see something more similar to the current run on the comics: New Inhumans joining Atilla with the Royal Family as an important, but ultimately secondary support role.

Btw, Medusa is not the only one who can understand his sign language. Medusa has an empathic connection to Black Bolt and she understands what he wants WITHOUT THE NEED FOR COMMUNICATION. So she often speaks for him. When needed however, he can sign just fine.

Edit: On the subject of Vibranium... The exact properties of both Vibranium and Black Bolt's voice are unclear and change from decade to decade and often writer to writer. Recently, Maximus (who was "good" for a short while... Sorta/not really) devised a way to use Black Bolt's voice as a power source. Inhuman army had power armor and guns powered by power cells pre-charged by Black Bolt's voice... They took over the Kree and conquered the Shi'ar with them, so they worked pretty well...