T'Challa: The Black Panther Appreciation 2021

[CosmiComic]

I agree with most of what you said but I don't want Ridley writing Tchalla closer to the MCU version. Ignoring Chadwick Boseman performance which was excellent that character let Zemo live and gave him to America. Zemo that killed Tchaka and is now a famous dancer.

It fell victim to the noble negro trope in the end and was way to reactive. I need a Tchalla that lost his father as a child and spent his life being a paranoid planner/thinker due to it.

Also need a Tchalla that rips out throats when he says he is going to do so

You really want him to be vengeful?

[Vanguard]

I’m a little confused about TChalla’s enchanted spear. Can it be broken or is it pure energy?

[DigiCom]

I’m a little confused about TChalla’s enchanted spear. Can it be broken or is it pure energy?

There are two of them. I think Coates got a little confused (which is amusing, because he's the one that came up with one of them).

The Spear of Bashenga dates to the Priest era, although Zuri used it the most often:



The energy/spirit spear showed up in issue #11 of Coates first run

[DigiCom]

Thats the thing though. Killing T'Challa has no bearings on an Okoye prequel. He should be present for that. He had a friendship with her and W'Kabi for years.

Unless the prequel is set during the blip. Which then makes me wonder what the hell is happening in Wakanda Forever.

I have a theory about that, based on a couple of data points:

1) The casting sheet that supposedly leaked the other day.
2) Marvel Studio's fondness for period pieces.

I'm wondering if they'll go back and tell the story of Klaw's first attack on Wakanda, possibly mixed with a bit of WIBP. It WOULD neatly bypass the whole "Recast" situation, because T'Challa would be a child/teen. I'm not sure how they'd use the existing characters, tho, unless it's a framing story.

(If it IS one, it would be the perfect venue for introducing a new T'Challa actor as an last scene surprise.)

Frankly, tho, this is just a wild guess. I neither hope nor expect it to be true.

[chief12d]

I agree with most of what you said but I don't want Ridley writing Tchalla closer to the MCU version. Ignoring Chadwick Boseman performance which was excellent that character let Zemo live and gave him to America. Zemo that killed Tchaka and is now a famous dancer.

It fell victim to the noble negro trope in the end and was way to reactive. I need a Tchalla that lost his father as a child and spent his life being a paranoid planner/thinker due to it.

Also need a Tchalla that rips out throats when he says he is going to do so

I’d advocate for a more ruthless T’Challa in the vein of Priest and Hudlin but I don’t necessarily NEED that from T’Challa. I don’t prefer it, but MCU T’Challa is an upgrade over what Coates has given us so I’d accept it. I’m with MOS. Give me the bare minimum and I’ll be happy lol.

I don’t need every run to completely recontextualize Black Panther as a character and franchise, I’m fine with the occasional gen like KIB every now and then but I don’t need Ridley to be Priest to be satisfied. I’m too burned out to expect that much, I just want a story that shows a character I like in a positive light and has something cool to put on display.

Really? Always been tempting? Because if we are looking at history, in the 55 years of T'Challas existence and publication, Wakanda has only been the focus for the last 5 years, under Coates and friends...he rest? T'Challa has been the focus, Wakanda hasn't been the draw... Ever. This revisionist history people have been championing and even Feigi has been saying about the sequel needs to stop. It's not true, it's never been true, and to act like Wakanda is the main character is dumb.

Everything we have seen or experienced about WK has been with T'Challa as our guide. It's not that tempting, it's just what happens when you get folks like Coates and pals, who don't give a Frak about T'Challa, and turn them loose without oversight to write whatever bias agenda they fancy and force it into the mythos.

Let's be real, Wakanda isn't that interesting enough to be treated like a main character it's a backdrop, a tool, a resource for T'Challa to utilize to help the world and spank armies trying to come in. It's not the franchise, and it's nothing without T'Challa the black panther. There's a reason spin off book's that don't focus on T'Challa or **** talk him fail and it's not because Wakanda isn't featured...

I kinda disagree with this take. Wakanda is plenty interesting and it’s populated by cool side characters that with enough push can sustain a fanbase and perhaps even a book independent of T’Challa (speaking purely on the comics). I just don’t think that attempts to push the backdrop of Wakanda should come at the expense of T’Challa in his own book.

I’ve been saying for awhile now Shuri should be out front with the current generation of legacy characters and being shown outside the bubble of the BP books. She should be appearing in the main BP title in a supporting role, getting a mini every 1-2 years, and be a primary character in Champions/Young Avengers. Just like Kate Bishop or Ms. Marvel. She’s that valuable a concept.

What I don’t want is for the Black Panther book to get turned into a stealth solo for her because the writer is more interested in her than they are T’Challa. Shuri is part of the world of Wakanda but that’s not who the vast majority of fans are picking the BP book up for. Same goes for the Dora, should be built up in minis and team appearances while playing support in the main title. That’s how you build a franchise, give strong limited showcases to the world/sidekicks in the home title but give them space to shine in their own storylines/teams. Thats basically how most of the major Bat-family members got to where they are now.

Marvel so desperately wants Black Panther to be their Batman that rather than organically build out the world of Wakanda they turned the main book into an ensemble to speed up the process. Sales crashed and burned and it led to controversy among fans (even if “critics” and literary types who clearly have an agenda to exalt everything Coates does loved it). Likewise it didn’t really elevate the characters involved outside maybe the MA, who are back to wallpaper status anyway with Okoye’s rightful return.

Who here expects to see Changamire as a driving figure past this era? He didn’t deserve or need as much panel time as he got, which is something that can be said about several characters in Coates’ run. The key word for this next era has to be “consolidate”. We don’t need 20+ characters in 6 issues covering 4-5 different perspectives simultaneously.

[CosmiComic]

Idk if Wakanda really does have enough side characters without a main hero like T'Challa. I don't really see the potential. Most comics follow main heroes, or villains every now and then

That being said, I don't really all the new side characters are necessarily bad

[Vanguard]

There are two of them. I think Coates got a little confused (which is amusing, because he's the one that came up with one of them).

Lol thanks

[Redjack]

The book is called THE BLACK PANTHER.

That should give folks a decent idea on what it should be about.

The first thing the character did on his FIRST appearance was to beat the entire Fantastic Four, on his own, just to see if they were worthy of an audience.

Start there.

[MouserGrey]

^^^ That right there^^^^

[chief12d]

Idk if Wakanda really does have enough side characters without a main hero like T'Challa. I don't really see the potential. Most comics follow main heroes, or villains every now and then

That being said, I don't really all the new side characters are necessarily bad

Shuri can almost definitely hold a book if they pushed her as hard as they do Kamala and featured her more consistently independent of her brother. Meaning she leaves the damn nest and actually is shown among her peers, getting exposure to new fanbases as part of different teams, and develops her own lore that still ties to the wider BP mythos.

Like Kamala her ongoing probably wouldn’t survive on the direct market but it could have strong sales in digital and Scholastic so there’s no reason she can’t work other than the stories being bad. Less sure on a Dora book but I’d apply the same principles. Or better yet consolidate all the BP side characters into a single World of Wakanda vol 2 featuring Shuri, Okoye, M’Baku, and Kasper with T’Challa making infrequent appearances to prop up sales at first.

[Vanguard]

The book is called THE BLACK PANTHER.

That should give folks a decent idea on what it should be about.

The first thing the character did on his FIRST appearance was to beat the entire Fantastic Four, on his own, just to see if they were worthy of an audience.

Start there.

Seeing TCHALLA fight the FF at the very beginning of the movie and winning would be crazy good.

[CosmiComic]

Shuri can almost definitely hold a book if they pushed her as hard as they do Kamala and featured her more consistently independent of her brother. Meaning she leaves the damn nest and actually is shown among her peers, getting exposure to new fanbases as part of different teams, and develops her own lore that still ties to the wider BP mythos.

Like Kamala her ongoing probably wouldn’t survive on the direct market but it could have strong sales in digital and Scholastic so there’s no reason she can’t work other than the stories being bad. Less sure on a Dora book but I’d apply the same principles. Or better yet consolidate all the BP side characters into a single World of Wakanda vol 2 featuring Shuri, Okoye, M’Baku, and Kasper with T’Challa making infrequent appearances to prop up sales at first.

Haha, I meant aside from Shuri. She's an actual hero. The others are just kinda there.

I wouldn't mind seeing her on other teams.

[Ekie]

Seeing TCHALLA fight the FF at the very beginning of the movie and winning would be crazy good.

Exactly. He was intended to be crazy good

[Ekie]

You really want him to be vengeful?

Panther's rage isnt just the name of a book.
The man killed his father. Tchalla has killed ppl for less

[CosmiComic]

Panther's rage isnt just the name of a book.
The man killed his father. Tchalla has killed ppl for less

Idk. I like it when the heroes show more restraint.