Black Panther Appreciation 2019

[DigiCom]

Her powers are pretty useful. She's got flight, superhuman speed, superhuman strength, the ability to grow, the ability to turn stone, and the power to animate and control the dead (or Wakandan dead at least). Her solo book established she has the ability to potentially draw on the powers of any previous Wakandan in history, so she may have more powers in addition to what we've already seen.

As far as her powers being clearly defined... really it just means she has the powers of previous Wakanda warriors throughout history. It seems all over the place, because a lot of different Wakandans in the past had different powers. And yes, it is a bit of a plot device, in that you can in theory give her any power she needs by simply establishing a Wakandan in the past had that power. So far at least, they haven't gone too crazy with it.

Hell, in issue #15 of Season 2, SHE suddenly had zombie control powers! How is that not "pulling powers out of her Djalla"?



Actually, the more I look at it, the more Shuri's powerset looks like Coates simply gave her "QotD" powers (and a really REALLY stupid costume).

[Marvell2100]

Pray to Khorne the Blood God instead.

He may hear your supplications as he sits upon his throne of skulls.

Crom laughs from his Mountain of Power.

Good to see you again bro.

[Agent Z]

Hell, in issue #15 of Season 2, SHE suddenly had zombie control powers recently? How is that not "pulling powers out of her Djalla"?



Actually, the more I look at it, the more Shuri's powerset looks like Coates simply gave her "QotD" powers (and a really REALLY stupid costume).

Isn't that pose she's making something done in yoga exercise? Why is she using it while doing her zombie revival thing?

I know it's a strange thing to focus on but it really caught my attention.

[Marvell2100]

Except the mystical side goes against how Shuri is. Basically it's a lame undefined power that really doesn't seem that useful compared to Wakandan tech. Shuri seems weaker then she was in klaws or DW when she was sporting basically an iron panther suit (which was way more badass than the stuff she has now)

Having Shuri become Dr Strange light was just another way for Coates not to have to deal with tech. Focusing on the mystical stuff lets him get away not dealing with one of the building blocks of BP and Wakanda.

He can just do magic.

[MindofShadow]

I'm sure Tchalla has had a power creep as I call since Priest

It is a "power creep" within the same zone. Happens to nearly everyone.

He is still above regular humans and below Spider-Man. That is "comic book peak human" in a nutshell.

Doesn't matter what label you give it. Superhuman, peak human, street level, ect. Based on feats, he is in that very large middle ground.

[XPac]

Except the thing is, In order to make her the mystical type there had to be a complete change o. Character from who she was. That didn't actually work (especially given the isht Coates has had her say on his series) and is not at all In character of how Shuri would act. She has been made into a less likeable character on order to push an agenda.

As for her powers, the problem is the simple fact that it's been completely used as a plot device. It's too vague and just mention some last warrior and poof new power, which is ironic given that that is how KotD should work yet it's Shuri who is getting it since apparently the Black panthers only date back so far

Shuri becoming Griot changed her yes ... but at least it gave a reason why she was changed. Turning her into the tech based MCU Shuri actually changed her a lot more. But synergy... sucks, but what can ya do.

I think magic in general often is a bit of a plot device yes... but honestly tech works the same way. Whatever is needed, Wakandan tech in theory can whip up if it's needed.

But the reason Shuri would get this sort of upgrade while T'Challa didn't is again Shuri needed it. She needed SOMETHING. T'Challa is already one of the best fighters and one of the smartest guys on earth. In theory he doesn't need any powers or knowledge from any of the previous BPs. At the time Shuri became Griot she had no powers, no title, and no special skills (though post movie she becomes super smart too.. but that happens much later). Since T'Challa leans more on tech than the mystical stuff anyways, like you mentioend earlier, enhacing T'Challa on the tech side of things while Shuri got mystical enhancements made enough sense.

[DigiCom]

Isn't that pose she's making something done in yoga exercise? Why is she using it while doing her zombie revival thing?

I know it's a strange thing to focus on but it really caught my attention.

Yeah, that looks like vriksasana (the "tree stance"). I'm not sure why African magic requires Hindu postures, but I recall he had Tetu go through similar contortions while (almost) plagiarising Henry Dumas.

[XPac]

Hell, in issue #15 of Season 2, SHE suddenly had zombie control powers recently? How is that not "pulling powers out of her Djalla"?



Actually, the more I look at it, the more Shuri's powerset looks like Coates simply gave her "QotD" powers (and a really REALLY stupid costume).

That's the convenince of her powers... she literally can have any power needed for a story. A writer just needs to invent a Wakandan in the past that had that power. I suppose the upside to this is that Shuri's ability creates a potential backlog of Wakandan meta humans in the past which can potentially be played with in the future. We now have Wakandans in the past with super speed, super strength, the ability to raise the dead, etc. It's something added to the sandbox which can potentially be played with by future writers down the line.

[DigiCom]

That's the convenince of her powers... she literally can have any power needed for a story. A writer just needs to invent a Wakandan in the past that had that power. I suppose the upside to this is that Shuri's ability creates a potential backlog of Wakandan meta humans in the past which can potentially be played with in the future. We now have Wakandans in the past with super speed, super strength, the ability to raise the dead, etc. It's something added to the sandbox which can potentially be played with by future writers down the line.

This is not a good thing. It's lazy asspull writing, beyond any isht that Doctor Strange has pulled.

[XPac]

This is not a good thing. It's lazy asspull writing, beyond any isht that Doctor Strange has pulled.

Potentially yes ... magic (and tech for that matter) can potentially create last writing. That said, so far it's been pretty streamlined and conservative. Mostly abilities used for transportation and defense. We've seen more asspull from Wakandan tech in Aarons Avengers than from Shuri so far. Though that's sort of the nature of magic or exotic tech.

[DigiCom]

Potentially yes ... magic (and tech for that matter) can potentially create last writing. That said, so far it's been pretty streamlined and conservative. Mostly abilities used for transportation and defense. We've seen more asspull from Wakandan tech in Aarons Avengers than from Shuri so far. Though that's sort of the nature of magic or exotic tech.

Zombie army? Size-changing?

[XPac]

Zombie army? Size-changing?

Size and strength are really her only functional offensive options on a day to day level.

Zombie army us very very useful under very specific circumstances. Shes a very powerful character if she happens to be around a bunch of dead Wakandan bodies. The circumstances it was be used are specific enough for it to not be a problem most of the time.

Ultimately Shuri powers are fairly low end, allowing her to fight stuff with a fairly unique powerset. Its not used to magically solve any big problem they run into like Stranges powers sometines are.

[KingNomarch]

Hell, in issue #15 of Season 2, SHE suddenly had zombie control powers! How is that not "pulling powers out of her Djalla"?



Actually, the more I look at it, the more Shuri's powerset looks like Coates simply gave her "QotD" powers (and a really REALLY stupid costume).

If T'Challa could do this instead of needing Namor to get the dead to follow him or summoning the souls of his ancestors to tell him how much he sucks, then maybe being KoTD would actually be interesting.

[Ezyo1000]

It's kind of irrelevant what anyone thinks when something is clearly stated on the written page.

Hickman's deciding (for whatever reason) not to explore the very premise for T'Challa's KOTD status beyond the wholly ineffectual raising of zombies in Secret Wars II which wasn't even part of the original KOTD power set, was a monumental failure on the writers part.

If Hickman had opted to actually depict T'Challa drawing on the insights and unique powers of previous BP's and channeling same, this would have gone a long way towards organically growing T'Challa as a character which in turn, would have been a worthy addition to the overall BP Mythos.

Just imagine a T'Challa drawing on the experience, memories and powers if all BP's that preceded him, going up against a Dr Doom wholly unaware of T'Challa's evolution?

The possibilities would have been epic if followed through but unfortunately, Hickman lacked the wherewithal to actually explore T'Challa's growth as a character beyond largely forgettable magic negro kneeling in the dust tropes.

In the end, all we got from Hickman's T'Challa, were empty threats, juggling knives, oversized boxing gloves and.......zombies.

The empty threats, empty powerset, and the evolution of T'Challa from badass to the whiney version we got which though ended on the positive, it was the Segway Coates needed to continue that path instead of giving him that big moment. Like you said how cool would it have been if he was fighting doom and did that, or we saw him beating on Black dwarf then completely overpower him by drawings on the strengths or BP.. or better yet. Doing that to namor instead of having black bolt knock him off the platform?

[KingNomarch]

I remember thinking that this was going to lead to exciting things. So much potential wasted from this "upgrade". Nothing about his abilities and skills changed. T'Challa had always been connected to the souls of past Black Panthers and since becoming KoTD the only time I can think of his ancestors being useful was when the one queen told him that Zawavari was alive and that's it. 10,000+ years worth of BP's knowledge ended up being completely useless while Shuri's Djalia trips provide all the answers.