Black Panther has set a record as the biggest February opening weekend ever, having earned an insane $192 million (roughly £137m) in the US between Friday and Sunday.

That's not all. The overwhelming audience support places the movie as the fifth best US opening weekend of all time, beating the likes of Iron Man 3, The Dark Knight Rises, and even Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. It’s the biggest superhero launch and the biggest non-sequel launch of all time, and is now the highest grossing film of all time directed by a black director (Ryan Coogler), a record that was previously held by F. Gary Gray for Straight Outta Compton.

The Marvel film’s accolades continued beyond the big screen, too, as the Kendrick Lamar-curated and produced soundtrack debuted at number one in the US album charts.

Over the weekend, Twitter was awash with videos of fans dancing in the cinema lobby, celebratory memes, and confessions of love for the stellar cast. (Some racists also got so mad about the success that they lied unconvincingly on Twitter about having been assaulted at screenings.) To see why audiences are so hyped for this film, read what the cast told us makes this film so vital.