Originally Posted by
XPac
He had similar issues wanting to be in the FF too. He could have just chosen to commute to work rather than actually move there. But similar to Hells Kitchen, when he saw an opportunity to play super hero he took it.
Any one of these things could be taken in stride but after a certain point the storytelling starts shaping the narrative here. In Geoffs Avengers run they had 3 active ruling kings assisting them against the In Betweener. And at the end of the story, two of the three declined membership in the Avengers because they wanted to return to their people. The one which accepted wasn't Thor or Namor. Again, this doesn't flat out state on panel that he'd rather play super hero rather than sit on the throne.... but a cummulative effect starts to form. Same thing happens when the Tribal Council accuses T'Challa that he has abandoned them to fight zombies in space... doesn't spell out that he would rather play super hero, but the sub text starts to form after a certain point. I don't think TOO many people were THAT suprised when he finally just flat out admitted it to himself.
As far as him taking 2 steps back... absolutely true. He's been taking step after step back since Doom put him in a coma. He lost his throne, his powers, his marriage, the respect of the Doras, his sister, all the while Wakanda was being invaded or destroyed like half a dozen times. Coates didn't have him take a step back... he inherited the character that way and built his story around the character SLOWLY moving back forward until he got back literally everything he lost and then some.