Marvel, BET Team Up for Black Panther Animation

NEW YORK, July 16: BET
Networks and Marvel Animation are collaborating to produce an animated series
based on the superhero the Black Panther, for premiere in the first quarter of
2009.

The series will be adapted
from the first six issues of the Marvel Comic. A sneak preview will premiere at
Comic-Con during BET’s panel on July 26. The partnership between BET and Marvel
marks an expansion of the channel’s animation division.

The animated series is
executive produced by Reginald Hudlin, the president of entertainment at BET
Networks, and Denys Cowan, the company’s senior VP of animation. Eric Rollman,
the president of Marvel Animation, and Cort Lane, the director of animation
development, are the executives on the series for Marvel.

Hudlin said: “As a
lifelong comic-book reader, I didn’t think anything could top the excitement of
writing one of my favorite characters, the Black Panther. I’m so proud I’ve
been able to maintain a successful run of the series over the past three years
while keeping my day job of programming a network. But now to have both of my
worlds collide, to have a faithful adaptation of my own work as a prime-time
series on the network—it’s a dream come true. The Black Panther has
always been an inspirational character to me, and now I get to share that
inspiration with the widest audience he’s ever had.”

—By Jackie Stewart