- 10 May 2016
As the new Captain America film made an eye-watering $181.8m in the North American box office this weekend, it was also causing digital waves across the Atlantic in Africa.
One of the movie's opening scenes is set in a market in Nigeria's main city of Lagos, and even though it was reportedly filmed on a set in Atlanta in the US, it inspired Nigerian tweeters (the third most active on the social media site in Africa), to generate the #CaptainAmericaInNigeria hashtag.
Nigerians used the hashtag to theorise how the American superhero, whose origins date back to World War II, would fare with issues facing their country. Many of the tweets were also tongue-in-cheek comments about issues facing the West African country. These ranged from from recent fuel shortages to the perennial problem of corruption. Nigeria ranks 136 out of 176 countries on the 2014 Corruption Perception Index, with a score of just 27 out of 100 .
Twitter
Even though Captain America has previously saved the world from the Red Skull and the Hydra many Nigerians were not confident about his ability to adapt to downtown Lagos. "Some one would have stolen his shield and sold it to Blacksmiths," one Tweeter wrote. Others thought the US super hero would have problems with the climate.
Twitter
Captain America: Civil War, the latest offering from Walt Disney Marvel Studios, is the third instalment of the series. Characters from the entire Marvel universe, including Iron Man, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are featured. But some Nigerians felt that even with some super assistance, Captain America would not prevail in Nigeria.
Twitter
Others had more faith in Captain America and speculated that some outside help might be just what was needed to deal with some perplexing local problems.
@iam_Chrystian
This may not be Captain America's last African adventure. The new film sees the introduction of African king T'Challa, who will go on to be the Black Panther, the first black superhero in the Marvel coterie. T'Challa, with his superhuman strength and intellect, presides over the fictional, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda. The Black Panther film is scheduled for release in 2018.
Blog by Dmytro Zotsenko
@bucklebury_sch / Twitter
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