France defence minister on Sunday condemned the latest instalment of Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’ franchise, which depicts French troops caught trying to steal resources belonging to the fictional African kingdom of Wakanda. “I strongly condemn this false and deceptive representation of our armed forces,” Sebastien Lecornu wrote on Twitter, responding to a clip from the November movie posted by a journalist.
The scene turns on a group of bound French soldiers being brought into a UN meeting, embarrassing Paris’ ambassador to the world body, after being caught on their secret mission set in West African country Mali. Journalist Jean Bexon, who posted the ‘Black Panther’ clip, noted, “The evil French mercenaries operating in Mali are dressed like soldiers from Operation Barkhane,”areal-life military mission. France is particularly sensitive to its image in West Africa after military juntas in Mali and Burkina Faso demanded the departure of French troops, deployed to the Sahel region since 2013 to fight jihadis. Read More