T'Challa: The Black Panther Appreciation 2021

[MindofShadow]

The double whammy of W’Kabi and Zuri getting unceremoniously killed off at the end of Hudlin’s run, the death of S’Yan in Doomwar, and successive writers allowing Kasper and Vibraxas to fade into irrelevance has left T’Challa’s male supporting cast by far the weakest of any tentpole hero. The MCU built on this by killing Zuri off in the MCU (and completely erasing his badassness from the comics) and W’Kabi becoming a villain (essentially assassinating his character).

M’Baku MIGHT get pushed because T’Challa won’t be in the MCU anymore and they need a strong male presence but Coogler might just as easily go all in and turn the BP franchise into Marvel’s Wonder Woman lol. Ridley has a habit of centering dynamics between male characters just as much as he does male-female ones so I’m hoping he sees the massive imbalance in the BP mythos and moves to correct it.

I mean M’Baku leads the second most powerful tribe and cult in Wakanda, T’Challa should have a fleshed out relationship with him. I’m hoping Kasper or Akili is the agent that needs saving and we can have one of them be the main HZ. These are natural ways to service the worldbuilding fans want while developing T’Challa’s supporting cast with new perspectives/roles in the mythos.

The smartest thing Coates could’ve done is make the Midnight Angels gay and making them the stars of his first trade lol. The current climate makes it impossible for a writer to kill them off and since they’re the only other relevant Dora a writer is kinda stuck with them. Unless they use different ones but I don’t see that happening, mostly because I think Okoye is our main Dora and whoever the others are won’t matter much anyway. So I’m not too upset they’re present. I suspect they’ll be nothing characters until we get the inevitable Dora spin-off mini lol.

What is weird about the interview is it brought up friends and Ridley talking about friends form his past

but Tchalla ain't got no friends lol

This screams original character unless it is Kasper

[Huntsman Spider]

I want to see Sable & Symkaria used in this global espionage thrill ride. I also would love to see Kasper Cole again. Maybe make him an agent of Wakanda.

Those would be cool ideas, though Silver Sable and Symkaria would depend on how well Silver is able to (finally) recover from her near-death back in Ends of the Earth, as it turned out in Nick Spencer's Spider-Man that she was just using a Life Model Decoy to act for her in public while she recuperated from her injuries. And yeah, Kasper Cole would be great to see again in Black Panther, too.

[Ekie]

Hunter maybe!
Prolly Kasper though...

[Steroid]

Hunter maybe!
Prolly Kasper though...

Hunter and Kasper were the first names that came to my mind when reading the article.

[Huntsman Spider]

Hunter maybe!
Prolly Kasper though...

Hunter and Kasper were the first names that came to my mind when reading the article.

White Wolf Hunter? I'll admit, I liked Redjack's take on him in Black Panther's Quest, and again, it'd be cool to see Kasper Cole back.

[chief12d]

What is weird about the interview is it brought up friends and Ridley talking about friends form his past

but Tchalla ain't got no friends lol

This screams original character unless it is Kasper

Yea Kasper would be a welcome face and given how Priest-like Ridley’s direction seems to be going I feel like it’s a possibility. And if he wants to explore racial issues like he seems to be hinting Kasper as a biracial American also makes sense if he wants to incorporate some relatability to those themes. He has some pretty stark contrasts from T’Challa that Ridley might want to explore.

He might not be the Wakandan agent calling for help but I could see him maybe lending T’Challa a hand while on this mission. WOW established he’s working as an operative for T’Challa right, meaning T’Challa can call for him whenever needed. But I think you’re right it’s likely an OC who gets retconned into T’Challa’s life lol. In which case I wonder what period of his life were they a friend? Childhood, college abroad, during his early days as a king/superhero?

[Ezyo1000]

The double whammy of W’Kabi and Zuri getting unceremoniously killed off at the end of Hudlin’s run, the death of S’Yan in Doomwar, and successive writers allowing Kasper and Vibraxas to fade into irrelevance has left T’Challa’s male supporting cast by far the weakest of any tentpole hero. The MCU built on this by killing Zuri off in the MCU (and completely erasing his badassness from the comics) and W’Kabi becoming a villain (essentially assassinating his character).

M’Baku MIGHT get pushed because T’Challa won’t be in the MCU anymore and they need a strong male presence but Coogler might just as easily go all in and turn the BP franchise into Marvel’s Wonder Woman lol. Ridley has a habit of centering dynamics between male characters just as much as he does male-female ones so I’m hoping he sees the massive imbalance in the BP mythos and moves to correct it.

I mean M’Baku leads the second most powerful tribe and cult in Wakanda, T’Challa should have a fleshed out relationship with him. I’m hoping Kasper or Akili is the agent that needs saving and we can have one of them be the main HZ. These are natural ways to service the worldbuilding fans want while developing T’Challa’s supporting cast with new perspectives/roles in the mythos.

The smartest thing Coates could’ve done is make the Midnight Angels gay and making them the stars of his first trade lol. The current climate makes it impossible for a writer to kill them off and since they’re the only other relevant Dora a writer is kinda stuck with them. Unless they use different ones but I don’t see that happening, mostly because I think Okoye is our main Dora and whoever the others are won’t matter much anyway. So I’m not too upset they’re present. I suspect they’ll be nothing characters until we get the inevitable Dora spin-off mini lol.

I think at this point either W'kabi comes back or just forcus on Kasper and Akili. Both of them are decent and don't have a ton of baggage attached to them. I am also good with M'Baku becoming more of a frienenemy/ ally than rogue. There's alot to mine from that relationship that deserves to be explored further and have them be friendlier again. Akili and Kasper give us the HZ angle the Mythos also needs. The Dora are cool but having the HZ developed with a "Face" to the organization opens the door to have them go places logically the Dora can't as well as showcase high level Wakandan tech and espionage/spec ops missions.

The MA can still be sidelined. I have no issues with their sexuality or anything other than the fact that they were written shitty and everything about their story arc was designed to **** on T'Challa and Wakanda and men in general while their love was not only trope heavy Hallmark movie style, but they were also incredibly cringey in their love development. Anakin and Padme would cringe at how bad it was. I dislike them because Coates used them as mouthpieces for his shitty agenda. But the original Doras are cooler as with their MCU look and the MA can fade away. It's not like they have been important since halfway through S2

[DigiCom]

no body no death but i thought PAnther God murked her anyway lol

Nope, at the end of the mini, she's rockin the "standing next to the throne" pose:

[chief12d]

I think at this point either W'kabi comes back or just forcus on Kasper and Akili. Both of them are decent and don't have a ton of baggage attached to them. I am also good with M'Baku becoming more of a frienenemy/ ally than rogue. There's alot to mine from that relationship that deserves to be explored further and have them be friendlier again. Akili and Kasper give us the HZ angle the Mythos also needs. The Dora are cool but having the HZ developed with a "Face" to the organization opens the door to have them go places logically the Dora can't as well as showcase high level Wakandan tech and espionage/spec ops missions.

The MA can still be sidelined. I have no issues with their sexuality or anything other than the fact that they were written shitty and everything about their story arc was designed to **** on T'Challa and Wakanda and men in general while their love was not only trope heavy Hallmark movie style, but they were also incredibly cringey in their love development. Anakin and Padme would cringe at how bad it was. I dislike them because Coates used them as mouthpieces for his shitty agenda. But the original Doras are cooler as with their MCU look and the MA can fade away. It's not like they have been important since halfway through S2

The thing with W’Kabi is I don’t know where he fits into the mythos anymore. Okoye stole his niche as T’Challa’s right hand man on military affairs. If you make him leader of the Border Tribe it’s kinda boring because you already have the M’Baku-led Jabari tribe to act as the traditionalist faction controlled by an ally. Plus they’re cooler lol. I agree that Kasper or Akili work better at this point, W’Kabi can be revived but I don’t see what he adds to be honest. Maybe he retires early and T’Challa visits him on his farm and helps him out with his kids lol. Put him in charge of space stuff? But then how relevant does space stuff have to be for him to be relevant to T’Challa’s life?

I’d push M’Baku and Kasper/Akili (leaning towards Kasper because of the history he has w/ T’Challa). M’Baku has more history with T’Challa than most of the current people they’re pushing in the mythos. Friend turned villain turned frenemy of sorts (even before the Intergalactic Wakanda stuff they had him show up at T’Challa’s wedding and working with him on Superhero Registration during Civil War). I think the MA will be sidelined as a natural consequence of Okoye being the main Dora. I think they’ll be present and throwing around the “my love” BS but I think they’ll be background players to more important side characters like Okoye, Shuri, whoever this love interest is, and whoever the friend T’Challa is connecting with.

[Holt]

Nobody mentioned Taku but I'd love to have him back. His dynamic with Venomm was one of the most interesting parts of Panther's Rage.

[Jabare]

lol, relax.

couldn't help it

*Coats defenders*: "But did you see those picks he set!"

that's right! He did combine for 81 with Priest and Hudlin lol

In NBA terms his legacy is that of Kwame Brown

Don't make me come after you for royalties

The most prominent black comic book couple ever will always be linked and personally I'm cool with that .

John Stewart and Vixen?

Hopefully, this thread will have more positivity. It’s been pretty negative in here for the past couple of years

you gotta take the good with the bad. Positivity and negativity come in waves. You got to hop in at the right time and hop out lol. I dropped the BP book ages back so it's not like I was loving or hating the title with everyone anyway. I commend the people who still supported the title despite disliking it. I'm just not built like that.

When did Storm and Tchalla break up?

When Namor nuked Wakanda and Storm was nowhere to be found.

Then she came to Wakanda to faded Shuri and made off with their naitonal treasure....... that's when they broke up

[Jabare]

looks like Ridley will be focusing on the current Avengers run. I know some don't like it but Aaron's treated T'Challa with respect. Also yay more BP and Blade

[Ezyo1000]

The thing with W’Kabi is I don’t know where he fits into the mythos anymore. Okoye stole his niche as T’Challa’s right hand man on military affairs. If you make him leader of the Border Tribe it’s kinda boring because you already have the M’Baku-led Jabari tribe to act as the traditionalist faction controlled by an ally. Plus they’re cooler lol. I agree that Kasper or Akili work better at this point, W’Kabi can be revived but I don’t see what he adds to be honest. Maybe he retires early and T’Challa visits him on his farm and helps him out with his kids lol. Put him in charge of space stuff? But then how relevant does space stuff have to be for him to be relevant to T’Challa’s life?

I’d push M’Baku and Kasper/Akili (leaning towards Kasper because of the history he has w/ T’Challa). M’Baku has more history with T’Challa than most of the current people they’re pushing in the mythos. Friend turned villain turned frenemy of sorts (even before the Intergalactic Wakanda stuff they had him show up at T’Challa’s wedding and working with him on Superhero Registration during Civil War). I think the MA will be sidelined as a natural consequence of Okoye being the main Dora. I think they’ll be present and throwing around the “my love” BS but I think they’ll be background players to more important side characters like Okoye, Shuri, whoever this love interest is, and whoever the friend T’Challa is connecting with.

Okoye is the right hand and the general of the Wakandan army but I think where W'kabi shines now is the role that he had in Hudlins run. He is in charge of Wakandas defense. Not just the border, not the Wakandan army, but Wakandas actual defense. Sometimes still shows up on the front lines but that's not his main priority anymore, though he isn't afraid to throwdown when necessary. Either that or he becomes the head of the Wakandan intelligence aka the HZ and serves as the director while Kasper/ Akili serve as the field commander. I would be done for M'Baku taking a bigger role but his lack of technology and adherence to traditions makes him hard to be more than just council on T'Challas inner circle. Hence W'kabi can work better there. Of M'Baku embraced the technology then I say he is better suited. But basically the cast needs to be small and very intentional. I just want the MA to disappear all together because they are redundant and don't serve a purpose

[Shadowcat]

Not on topic, but any chance you’ll be doing anything Marvel related, Redjack?

[Dermie]

Nobody mentioned Taku but I'd love to have him back. His dynamic with Venomm was one of the most interesting parts of Panther's Rage.

Same here. I'm actually rather surprised Taku hasn't turned up at all in the current run, since Coates has used most of the surviving supporting cast from previous runs (including Kasper Cole).