'Black Panther' wins top prize at SAG Awards: What it means to be 'young, gifted and black'

The smash hit superhero film, "Black Panther", bagged the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAGs).

The box office hit, "Black Panther" picked up the best ensemble cast award in a motion picture. The award is the SAG ceremony's highest award.

It is the SAG's equivalent of the best film prize. Lead actor Chadwick Boseman was asked whether he felt that Black Panther had changed the film industry.

"My answer to that is... to be young, gifted and black." replied the actor.

Earlier this month the epic movie broke through an Oscar category wall for superheroes. The Marvel blockbuster hit became the first comic book-based film to win the best picture nomination.

It was a major step for comic book movies. "Black Panther" will have stiff competition against rival nominees BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, Green Book, Roma, A Star is Born and Vice at the awards in February this year.

Overall, Black Panther bagged a total of seven nominations. This included nominations for Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart’s production design, Ruth E. Carter’s costume design and Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s song "All the Stars.”

The film was also nominated for best sound editing, sound mixing, and original score. Beachler's Oscar nomination makes her the first African-American nominee for production design.

Beachler said in an interview, "To break down a wall like that, to be your ancestors’ wildest dreams, to show other young women of color and boys and girls that you can do whatever you want no matter what struggles you have in your life — all of that. That’s what it means to me.”

The 2018 hit was also one of the highest-grossing films. It started off the awards season on a strong note.

During this season, it also became the first Marvel movie to be nominated for a Best Picture Golden Globe. The movie was also nominated for Best Original Score and Original Song.

Fans loved the movie so much that even kids were excited to see it. Last year, a group of children threw an epic dance party after they learned they would get to see "Black Panther" in a viral video.