Originally Posted by
MoS Blog
Bast judged Killmonger unworthy of the title
- This is my personal favorite theory and likely the best fit.
We know the Panther powers have some component of the Panther God/Bast involved since way back in Gillis's mini series. This got adapted further by Hudlin and then even more by Hickman.
The HSH doesn't directly give you the powers, but Bast does. The HSH "connects" you to Bast, and you are then judged. Wakanda lore states that those who are unworthy are destroyed, but we saw Shuri deemed unworthy and lived. And, Bast works in mysterious ways and is never, ever straightforward. Whether its sparing Shuri, or seeing the future and doing nothing about it, or letting Doom take all the vibranium... Bast is a fickle, irritating God.
It is also important to note that Priest outright said that the HSH connects you to the Panther God. So even in Priest's continuity, the connection is that.
So, Killmonger was brought before Bast or had his spirit connected to Bast, Bast saw nothing by evil and vanity, deemed him unworthy of the Black Panther title, and put him in a coma. She didn't outright kill him as that would have permanently put an asterisk on T'challa's Black Panther career, her favored son.
The only flaw to this theory is that it wasn't shown on panel. Otherwise, it checks all the boxes, fits with the current mythos established by Hudlin, Mayberry, and Hickman. and makes the Killmonger mess as neat and tidy as possible.