Black Panther Appreciation 2020

[chief12d]

Can we steal Synch? They keep Gentle and keep Synch. Since he only wanted to visit New York to see Black Panther back in Generation X.

As a cameo or in a crossover? Sure! But as a supporting member or honorary Wakandan? No, let him rot with the other black males at the X-office, it's not the BP franchise's responsibility to fix what's already broken. I care about T'Challa and Wakanda first, everything not part of that world should be kept at arm's length in favor of building up original concepts, rogues, and side characters for the BP mythos. I feel the same way about every comic franchise I care about.

Soooo many people were very upset when they changed Franklin to no longer being a mutant and pulling him from mutantdom.

Franklin had less involvement in mutant affairs than the history of Storm and BP, yet rage ensued.

Because people are irrational and don't try to hide their bias. Then you have idiots on social media and this site suggesting its transphobic while trying to implicate the writer in some sort of ethnic erasure nonsense lol. The shared universe doesn't justify annexing characters from other corners of the MU to your franchise. Doing that is nothing but a set up for disappointment because not every writer is gonna want to play ball. Some fans have a problem understanding that concept and feel their writers are entitled to play with other people's toys.

[dkrook]

T'Challa's supporting cast is on the list of many things that the next BP scribe needs to fix and streamline. Redjack is gonna be writing Green Lantern over at DC so unfortunately my hope that he writes BP went down, but still, that should be a priority. T'Challa's world is more than just Shuri and Okoye and the latter in particular is occupying space in the mythos that theoretically should be divvied up between separate characters.

She's not just the head bodyguard, but also Wakanda's spymaster, the de facto general right below T'Challa, and one of his closest advisors. I'd much rather we bring back Kasper (as the new White Wolf), Zuri as the cool uncle and traditionalist representative, and W'Kabi as the real general alongside T'Challa. Also a great way to add meaningful male representation in the mythos, which has been systematically pushed to the side for years. Wedjat was right in our discussion about the Dora vs Palace Guards, I'm lowkey getting sick of seeing them everywhere and would like to see other sides of Wakandan security and culture not tied to them. Then cut the redundant characters from the Coates run, especially the mutants. No more Storm, Manifold, Midnight Angels, or Akili.

Yes, its funny to see all the men not named T'Challa just completely swiped to the side mostly in favor of women are cooler agenda. There's nothing wrong with equally empowering men and women at the same time, In a balanced manner. Kind of like the Black Panther movie.

[Marvell2100]

I don't remember Gentle showing up in any BP book

Not even Xmen lover Coates has used him? Was he even in the preview of all the black heroes together?

Everytime gentle gets mentioned, it is by an X writer.

Even that mutant school didn't have him lol

Gentle is the poster boy for mutant oppression in Wakanda. Anytime the X-office wants to show Wakanda as racist, cue Gentle(what a name for a superhuman).

Wakandan #1: "We're being attacked by The Skrulls! Call in our greatest warrior Gentle!"

Wakandan #2: "But won't he die if he uses his power?"

Wakandan #1: "And? Who gives a frak? Just get him over here!"

Wakandan #3: "Uhh, guys? The X-office just called. They said they have big plans for Gentle and he will not be available for further use!

Wakandan #1: " What kind of chickenshit operation are they running over there!"

[Marvell2100]

Because that means one less franchise that can be controlled.

It means standing on your own like everyone else.

They'll be alright. I'm sure they can create another omega-level mutant to play with.

[Marvell2100]

Because people are irrational and don't try to hide their bias. Then you have idiots on social media and this site suggesting its transphobic while trying to implicate the writer in some sort of ethnic erasure nonsense lol. The shared universe doesn't justify annexing characters from other corners of the MU to your franchise. Doing that is nothing but a set up for disappointment because not every writer is gonna want to play ball. Some fans have a problem understanding that concept and feel their writers are entitled to play with other people's toys.

Salty tears are bitter.

[Marvell2100]

Can we steal Synch? They keep Gentle and keep Synch. Since he only wanted to visit New York to see Black Panther back in Generation X.

To quote Wanda, "No More Mutants."

If anything they can bring Eli Bradley over. Or Tom Foster.

[chief12d]

Yes, its funny to see all the men not named T'Challa just completely swiped to the side mostly in favor of women are cooler agenda. There's nothing wrong with equally empowering men and women at the same time, In a balanced manner. Kind of like the Black Panther movie.

And truthfully, the male representation thing, while important, isn't even the biggest aspect. There needs to be a CLEAR distinction between the roles that T'Challa's cast plays because that's how a cast is supposed to work. They don't do everything individually because the idea is for them to be lead by the main character. With T'Challa that's ESPECIALLY the case, because he's a strategic and tactical mastermind, his cast should reflect all the tools available to him so he can direct them as needed to achieve his goal. There's no justifiable reason outside of laziness or simple stupidity that you'd have one side character wearing multiple hats of significance.

Okoye should be a quippy bodyguard and leader of T'Challa's security detail at home and abroad. That's it lol. Let other characters do other things and as Wedjat said, diversify and explore other parts of the Wakandan military structure. Frankly the Dora do occupy too much space in this regard and that's where I think the gender politics come into play because I refuse to believe they'd be getting this much push if they were men. Nothing wrong with giving them shine, but c'mon a Dora should not be leading Wakandan espionage. I want to see more of the HZ, the Panther Cult Priesthood, Wakandan superhumans, etc. The Dora are cool but after 2 minis and being the de facto leads of a 12-issue arc there should be exploration of other things. And if we get some more competent black male characters out of it, all the better.

[Dariel81]

Am I the only one who prefer the franchise to be cancel than rebooted for a Rated R version instead of the Disneyfied Black Panther we received. Maybe get some of that Chris Priest Run on screen.

You mean that disneyfied film that's one of the highest grossing films of all time?no BP movie should be rated R...just recast or shock the world and have MCU Nakia BECOME BP😀

[XPac]

And truthfully, the male representation thing, while important, isn't even the biggest aspect. There needs to be a CLEAR distinction between the roles that T'Challa's cast plays because that's how a cast is supposed to work. They don't do everything individually because the idea is for them to be lead by the main character. With T'Challa that's ESPECIALLY the case, because he's a strategic and tactical mastermind, his cast should reflect all the tools available to him so he can direct them as needed to achieve his goal. There's no justifiable reason outside of laziness or simple stupidity that you'd have one side character wearing multiple hats of significance.

Okoye should be a quippy bodyguard and leader of T'Challa's security detail at home and abroad. That's it lol. Let other characters do other things and as Wedjat said, diversify and explore other parts of the Wakandan military structure. Frankly the Dora do occupy too much space in this regard and that's where I think the gender politics come into play because I refuse to believe they'd be getting this much push if they were men. Nothing wrong with giving them shine, but c'mon a Dora should not be leading Wakandan espionage. I want to see more of the HZ, the Panther Cult Priesthood, Wakandan superhumans, etc. The Dora are cool but after 2 minis and being the de facto leads of a 12-issue arc there should be exploration of other things. And if we get some more competent black male characters out of it, all the better.

I think that's actually one of the upsides to separating the Doras from directly being a part of the Wakandan military in the comics at least. It allows that HZ to sort of fill that void at least a bit. The Doras (apart fro Okoye) seem to be a sort of outside resource that T'Challa can call into play when they are needed, but they are no longer a part of the standing Wakanan military on a day to day level. That distinction creates a bit of opportunity to do more as I'm sure it's very easy otherwise to just use the Doras for stuff since they're by far the coolest most recognizable aspect of the Wakandan red shirts.

Course, as nice as it is to see the HZ being used a bit more, I think they're basically being used as random Wakandan soldiers now, which is somewhat lessening their importance and individuality.

[baxer]

Because people are irrational and don't try to hide their bias. Then you have idiots on social media and this site suggesting its transphobic while trying to implicate the writer in some sort of ethnic erasure nonsense lol. The shared universe doesn't justify annexing characters from other corners of the MU to your franchise. Doing that is nothing but a set up for disappointment because not every writer is gonna want to play ball. Some fans have a problem understanding that concept and feel their writers are entitled to play with other people's toys.

People went on collective histeria on twitter over Franklin not being a mutant. Accuse slott of transphobia and ethnic erasure was really crazy and pure harassment.
Each writer play int their own franchise, if they want to share a character that is ok. Writers should have entire control of their franchise or it becomes a freaking nightmare.
I also think it is a lot of fan favoritism, fans think Hickman (and only him)is entitled to everything he wants while the rest of writers have to submit to him. Even asking Hickman to ignore others writers work.

Gentle seems almost impossible to work on Wakanda while he is a krakoan. Manifold while work on Sword isnt krakoan.

[XPac]

Yes, its funny to see all the men not named T'Challa just completely swiped to the side mostly in favor of women are cooler agenda. There's nothing wrong with equally empowering men and women at the same time, In a balanced manner. Kind of like the Black Panther movie.

That is the unfortunate downside of previous BP writers deciding to kill off like 90% of the male supporting cast for no reason whatsoever. It creates an imbalance.

I think in some ways the movie reinforces that because it elevated Shuri and Okoye. Basically they're the go-to supporting cast members anytime that's needed.

[MindofShadow]

wait... wat happenedd with franklin?

[Marvell2100]

wait... wat happenedd with franklin?

Franklin lost his powers and wanted to go to Krakoa to see if they could restore them. Prof X blocked him from going thru the gate and told him that he was never a mutant so he couldn't enter Krakoa.

[Marvell2100]

That is the unfortunate downside of previous BP writers deciding to kill off like 90% of the male supporting cast for no reason whatsoever. It creates an imbalance.

I think in some ways the movie reinforces that because it elevated Shuri and Okoye. Basically they're the go-to supporting cast members anytime that's needed.

Rhodey died in Iron Man. They brought him back.

It would be far less controversial to bring back some of the male supporting characters in BP.

Coates did intro new male characters in BP but nobody likes them. Lookin' at you Changy and Tetu. He also wanted that movie hit and brought in friendly M'Baku.

Goon Slam Garry was a success though.

[chief12d]

I think that's actually one of the upsides to separating the Doras from directly being a part of the Wakandan military in the comics at least. It allows that HZ to sort of fill that void at least a bit. The Doras (apart fro Okoye) seem to be a sort of outside resource that T'Challa can call into play when they are needed, but they are no longer a part of the standing Wakanan military on a day to day level. That distinction creates a bit of opportunity to do more as I'm sure it's very easy otherwise to just use the Doras for stuff since they're by far the coolest most recognizable aspect of the Wakandan red shirts.

Course, as nice as it is to see the HZ being used a bit more, I think they're basically being used as random Wakandan soldiers now, which is somewhat lessening their importance and individuality.

I think you're right. I'll always add the caveat that Coates didn't need to separate the Dora the way he did, but hopefully it gives future writers the space to develop other institutions within Wakanda. A concept like the HZ could use the development provided to the Dora. While right now they're just white-clad special ops, maybe one day we can get a named character (Kasper!) to represent that side of things and give it some actual lore. Can't put all the eggs in one basket.

That is the unfortunate downside of previous BP writers deciding to kill off like 90% of the male supporting cast for no reason whatsoever. It creates an imbalance.

I think in some ways the movie reinforces that because it elevated Shuri and Okoye. Basically they're the go-to supporting cast members anytime that's needed.

The movie definitely plays a role. The only compelling male ally T'Challa had was M'Baku, in comparison to Nakia, the superspy love interest, Shuri, the quippy scientist, and Okoye, the noble bodyguard. Zuri went from a badass elderly adviser to a shaman that gets killed off and W'Kabi, his best friend in the comics, becomes a villain. That said, there's still time to introduce new characters and redeem W'Kabi, but the supporting cast is already large in comparison to your standard MCU solo franchise. IDK how much more "push" there can be of men in the BP franchise.

Either way, if we got some more great moments from M'Baku and W'Kabi in the future I'd be happy. As ideally young men (and people in general) should be able to be invested in other male BP characters outside T'Challa. The IP should be able to appeal to people of both genders.