'Not many opportunities to play black superhero'

"I think culturally speaking there are not a lot of opportunities to play a black superhero. It's breaking new ground, and to be a part of that is a special thing," he said in a statement.

"If you're going to do a superhero you want to do one where you can really act and where you can do something that's going to make you a better artiste as well."

Boseman, who plays the titular role of Wakanda king T'Challa aka Black Panther, believes the character has an aura of James Bond around it that makes it ever more interesting.

"He's a superhero; he's not just a king. He's also really smart. There's a James Bond feel to the character. I think the amount of responsibility that he has as a superhero and as a king is interesting."

"There's a lot of real world conflict that you can bring to it. So you don't feel like you're just playing a guy in a suit; you're playing a conflicted, well-rounded character," Boseman said.

Black Panther is Marvel's first film to be led by a black actor and features a virtually all-black cast.

The film's cast has highly acclaimed actors in its ranks such as Michael B Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis.

The film releases in India on February 16.