Originally Posted by
Blind Wedjat
My argument is (and will always be) how important is T'Challa's inventiveness in the comics. How many conflicts has T'Challa solved because he invented something on the spot or with prep? Almost every major feat T'Challa has in the comics comes from outsmarting or outfighting someone. If you don't believe me, check out MindofShadow's blog.
Name me one invention of T'Challa's that actually matters in the Marvel Universe. You can't say Vibranium, because it's an element and it was laid at his feet. You can't say Wakandan technology because depending on which history you accept, T'Challa made Wakanda advanced by selling Vibranium or Wakanda was advanced before he was born. You can't say it's his suit, because even when Priest gave it to him he never stated it was his invention. Even if it is, it's hardly been considered a valuable asset to the MU the same way an Iron Man suit is. Every other invention T'Challa has to his name has been completely ignored. The closest he ever came to this was Shadow Physics, but from the get go that was a poorly defined fictional science. There's not one clear definition on whatever "quantum physics mixed with alchemy" even means or what it does. It's the very definition of a plot device. And like every other thing, it's been ignored because it never stuck.
No matter how much writers try to write T'Challa in this way, the simple and utter truth is that T'Challa is not a scientist. Never was, and never will be. Is he intelligent? Yes, but he's not a scientist. Tony Stark is a scientist. Hank Pym is a scientist. Reed Richards is a scientist. Can T'Challa understand a conversation between them and contribute to it? Yes, and that's why he learned Western science in the first place (and mind you, MCU T'Challa has actually been shown to understand technology).
In the same way I can read Priest's run when he had a team of scientists monitor and deplete Mephisto's energy instead of doing it himself to prove his intelligence, and not get mad about it or say he was chumped...is the same way I can watch the movie where Shuri invents the tech he uses.