T'Challa: The Black Panther Appreciation 2021

[Marvell2100]

My guess was he was trying to keep her relavent to the mythos and keep her from limbo like Hudlin did for Shuri. Unlike Hudlin, who despite missing on developing her better, he still had a logical character arc for Shuri which lead to her being BP to prevent limbo, at best, Zenzi was a somewhat sympathetic/misguided villain to start. Then Coates had her go full villain, stay full villain, continue to stay full villain, into she makes a completely random and out of the blue heel change and something something something, Zenzi is now Bast.

She should escaped to fight another day, and honestly? Kid bast was more interesting. Atleast in kid form, her logic and reasoning and randomness made sense because she acted like a child

The problem with Zenzi and Tetu was that they were only created as a way to show fault with T'Challa. Once that issue got resolved they became irrelevant.

[Chesterfield]

I wonder if Omolola is in on these agents getting killed or if she’s a potential new LI.

I love it when BP comics continue to utilise Nigerian names, (Folasade and Omolola). Yoruba names no less.

[MindofShadow]

Don't forget that it ends with her fusing with the Nazi ally that tried to ruin Wakanda more than once. Lol I'm still waiting for someone to explain the genius behind Zenzi, her character made no sense and her replacing/becoming Bast was even more ridiculous.

The genius behind both Zenzi and Tetu was simply their designs and original power set.

that is literally it lol

[Tofali]

How can Zenzi became Bast? Or is it like Eywa in James Cameron's Avatar where souls are absorbed back by the Tree of Souls?

[Frontier]

IIRC Shuri was originally a traditionalist/nationalist compared to T'Challa who was progressive. A good writer could do something with that.

And now she's a super science whiz kid. Ain't synergy grand ?

[Ezyo1000]

The problem with Zenzi and Tetu was that they were only created as a way to show fault with T'Challa. Once that issue got resolved they became irrelevant.

They didn't even portray that well either. Neither of them had a good "motivation" for why they hated T'Challa. They were basically evil just to be evil, especially Zenzi later on. Which made her elevation to bast even more stupid

[MindofShadow]

How can Zenzi became Bast? Or is it like Eywa in James Cameron's Avatar where souls are absorbed back by the Tree of Souls?

No one has ever explained it in anyway that makes sense.

[BlackClaw]

It’s truly a shame how Zenzi and Tetu were handled. They had amazing designs and power sets and a good writer could work wonders with them.

[MindofShadow]

It’s truly a shame how Zenzi and Tetu were handled. They had amazing designs and power sets and a good writer could work wonders with them.

He could have easily just left Tetu in jail too. He purposely brought him out of jail just to magically catch on fire from a spear throw lol

I don't even understand what he did with zenzi so it is hard to criticize vs be confused lol. She HELPED the symbiote ressurrect our Killmonger just to help kill him? lol.. And a WAKANDAN GOD used a Nigandan as vessell to power up because... yo wtf is going on here lol?

[Ezyo1000]

He could have easily just left Tetu in jail too. He purposely brought him out of jail just to magically catch on fire from a spear throw lol

I don't even understand what he did with zenzi so it is hard to criticize vs be confused lol. She HELPED the symbiote ressurrect our Killmonger just to help kill him? lol.. And a WAKANDAN GOD used a Nigandan as vessell to power up because... yo wtf is going on here lol?

That's cause Coates didn't have 5 years worth of story telling. He really only had 1. A nation under our feet, and even then that story should of been 8-10 issues long and not 12. He also didn't have a Good argument for why Wakanda shouldn't be a Monarch, literally in 1 issue Ridley was able to point out the flaws of democracy and it's issue for why Wakanda wouldn't benefit from it than it took Coates to explain why a Monarch wouldn't work. Which he didn't even do. He kept saying no one man, but T'Challa wasn't even the issue. The MA we're the issue with the Monarch
it were absolved from any and all blame because... Reasons Tetu had so much potential to be more. He could of been so much better. Zenzi could of been so much more layered, but the minute Coates had her team up with stane and strucker twins she should of been killed off because she became a useless hypocritical villain who whole motivation was ruined and thus so was the character

[chief12d]

Having a character work for Nazis then having them become the vessel for Wakanda's god is the kind of writing you expect from a white supremacist, objectively. There was very little info on why or how that even happened. The closest we got was Narcisse explaining what he thought happened in the interview with Coates after the run ended.

Zenzi and Tetu both needed to either die or escape in the final battle. Death is the easiest thing to reverse in comics, so if a writer wants to bring back Tetu they can. And it wouldn't be hard at all for a future writer to reveal Zenzi's corrupting Bast, setting up a confrontation between T'Challa and the Wakandan pantheon which needs to happen anyway at this point.

But yea massive wasted potential. I forgot who said it but Tetu should've been T'Challa's Zaheer. And Zenzi had all the makings of being a true psychological threat to the entire kingdom. But their stories were clearly derailed post-A Nation Under Our Feet so they were unceremoniously thrown into the final arc and kinda discarded. I hope they come back though, they have far more to offer the mythos than any of the OCs Coates tried to push. T'Challa needs more competent villains and a nature mage and empath freedom fighter combo can be really formidable under the right pen.

[Marvell2100]

They didn't even portray that well either. Neither of them had a good "motivation" for why they hated T'Challa. They were basically evil just to be evil, especially Zenzi later on. Which made her elevation to bast even more stupid

Zenzi and Tetu should have been the children of Killmonger. That would have really distinguished them and given them good backstory. Having Ayo, Aneka, tetu and Zenzi all hate the monarchy and specifically T'Challa really didn't make any sense the way Coates had it set up.

And the whole scene with the dictators was just straight up dumb. The whole run was flawed because the premise behind it was based on falsehoods and plenty of omissions by the writer.

[chief12d]

Zenzi and Tetu should have been the children of Killmonger. That would have really distinguished them and given them good backstory. Having Ayo, Aneka, tetu and Zenzi all hate the monarchy and specifically T'Challa really didn't make any sense the way Coates had it set up.

And the whole scene with the dictators was just straight up dumb. The whole run was flawed because the premise behind it was based on falsehoods and plenty of omissions by the writer.

I actually think Tetu's motivations actually weren't that bad as an idea. He was essentially an anarcho-communist with some mysticism on the side. His powers were consistent with his belief in the destruction of all social hierarchies and systems of oppression (gods and worshippers, king and subject, nation and culture). He was just weak as hell and way too boring to develop a compelling dynamic with T'Challa. Which are the main things needed to make a villain pop. If Coates spent more time giving Tetu some swagger, feats, and interesting debates with T'Challa on a thematic level he would've been the best modern BP villain since Achebe. Way too much time was spent on his tree yoga.

And Zenzi was basically a nihilist who went along with Tetu's revolutionary rhetoric because after Killmonger's campaigns she had nothing to live for. That's a strong hook imo. All she had left was self-loathing and a desire to cause suffering by manipulating the emotional pain of others. There was even a way to redeem her by the end of the story if she shook off her dependency on Tetu and realized she had more to offer the world. Maybe she wouldn't be a hero but I could've certainly seen her becoming a vigilante trying to help those affected by war-torn environments.

[Ezyo1000]

Zenzi and Tetu should have been the children of Killmonger. That would have really distinguished them and given them good backstory. Having Ayo, Aneka, tetu and Zenzi all hate the monarchy and specifically T'Challa really didn't make any sense the way Coates had it set up.

And the whole scene with the dictators was just straight up dumb. The whole run was flawed because the premise behind it was based on falsehoods and plenty of omissions by the writer.

I mean honestly? Coates didn't have an actual story mapped out. He had a concept, half baked and it showed. He didn't know how to convey his concept what so ever and so we ended up with a story where T'Challa wasn't at fault because the ones who caused the issue initially was the MA. Coates didn't have a good reason for Wakanda to NOT being a Monarch so he made up a contrived story that didn't even make sense. The dictatorship thing was straight up just to make T'Challa look bad that literally added nothing to the story same with the "reveal" that it was a set up. It was so bad that even casuals and fans of Coates went "Wtf was that about?" There are ways to show the flaws of a monarch, and what Coates tried (and failed) to show was more so the issues with a government on which people aren't doing what they're supposed to be doing. The story would of been the same if it were a democracy too. If not worse because democracies DON'T act quickly

[MindofShadow]

I actually think Tetu's motivations actually weren't that bad as an idea. He was essentially an anarcho-communist with some mysticism on the side. His powers were consistent with his belief in the destruction of all social hierarchies and systems of oppression (gods and worshippers, king and subject, nation and culture). He was just weak as hell and way too boring to develop a compelling dynamic with T'Challa. Which are the main things needed to make a villain pop. If Coates spent more time giving Tetu some swagger, feats, and interesting debates with T'Challa on a thematic level he would've been the best modern BP villain since Achebe. Way too much time was spent on his tree yoga.

And Zenzi was basically a nihilist who went along with Tetu's revolutionary rhetoric because after Killmonger's campaigns she had nothing to live for. That's a strong hook imo. All she had left was self-loathing and a desire to cause suffering by manipulating the emotional pain of others. There was even a way to redeem her by the end of the story if she shook off her dependency on Tetu and realized she had more to offer the world. Maybe she wouldn't be a hero but I could've certainly seen her becoming a vigilante trying to help those affected by war-torn environments.

And Ayo and Aneka should have turned into African Punisher.

Not Wakandan before someone complains.

MA duo shoulda had a relationship with tchalla like frank and matt.

Tchalla doesnt condone it and wont allow it in Wakanda.... but he aldo wont put them down. Try and change them back to thr light but if they wanna stop some trafficking with deadly force... hes just gonna shrug lol

Anything is more interesting than what we got