- The opening scene in Black Panther where Killmonger and Klaue carry out a museum heist is highly inaccurate, receiving a rating of just 2/10 for its accuracy by an art thief and detective.
- One of the major inaccuracies in the scene is that the museum director does not approach any of the security guards, which is unrealistic given the high demand for stolen African art.
- The scene showcases the ruthless nature of Killmonger and Klaue, establishing them as threatening villains by breaking art heist conventions and killing innocent civilians. It also introduces Killmonger's motivations.
In a video (via Insider), erstwhile art thief, Octave "Oky" Durham, with over 10,000 heists to his name, and art detective Arthur Brand - who has been instrumental in recovering 250 million stolen works of art - take a look at the Black Panther museum heist and rate it based on its accuracy. Save for one accurate moment in which the characters elicit the aid of an "insider," it turns out that the scene did not score very highly: just 2/10. This is down to a number of reasons, including the presence of the museum director and the supremely unproductive murder of the museum staff:
Oky: "She's like the director of the museum,"
Brand: "And nobody approaches...the Director doesn't approach any one guy. Art stolen from Africa is a hot item these days. Countries from Africa are demanding these pieces back from Western museums because they were stolen during the Colonial Era. And many of these objects do have a spiritual meaning for these countries, and in fact I was one of the first, last year, who brought one of such pieces back. An Emperor's crown stolen from Ethiopia, and we brought it back, and we handed it over to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.
It is an inside job, you know, there is somebody in it, in a bank or in a museum who knows about what's going to take place.
Oky: "Very easy to get somebody inside. Very easy. I did these things, you know. You have to find somebody who has problems, you know, who has debt to somebody. I trace them, where they go, where they go out and I bump up to them and say "I'm sorry, you want something to drink?" But also strange thing, they come with their open face. He wants to be noticed."
Brand: "He wants to attract attention."
Oky: "Yes, pretty much."
Brand: "The problem with museums is that they are there for the public. It is not meant to be a fortress. So it's very hard to really prevent everybody from taking something. You cannot put every painting, like the Mona Lisa, behind such thick glass.
"I have never heard of an art theft where people were killed, you know. They shoot people here like it's, you know, it's war. It's not like that."
Oky: "Let's say you have stolen art from a crime like this. You cannot sell it, it's too hot. People died, you cannot sell it."
Brand: "Ridiculous clip."
