It will be a brief moment in the entirety of the film, but one that Kani sees as part of a larger opportunity to “introduce the different African, an African that is a global figure,” he told Variety.

IsiXhosa is an Nguni language (the same family of languages as isiZulu and siSwati) spoken mainly in South Africa’s Eastern and Western Cape provinces and is the second largest cultural group in the country. It became the official language of Wakanda in Captain America: Civil War, which introduced film audiences to Boseman’s Black Panther, as well as his father played by Kani.

“I asked the directors ‘Why am I speaking English to my son?’ We are supposed to be from Africa,’” Kani said he told Captain America directors Joe and Anthony Russo.

In Black Panther, director Ryan Coogler described the moment you hear a father and son on screen speaking a real African language in a Hollywood blockbuster as “emotionally moving.” Kani worked with Coogler to make sure the moment felt authentic, also playing the role of language consultant.

In the storyline, the flashbacks between T’Chaka and T’Challa flesh out the burden the young now carries as he also grieves for his father. The film, however, has the added burden of the expectations of audiences who have placed great significance on a black superhero set in an Africa that defies stereotypes.

*Wamkelekile kuWakanda: Welcome to Wakanda

📬 Sign up for the Daily Brief

Our free, fast, and fun briefing on the global economy, delivered every weekday morning.