A New Genius
In the comics T’Challa is often seen as one of the smartest people on the planet, consistently ranking in the 7th-9th spots, or at least mentioned as being in the top 10. His intellect makes him feel like an even more worthy rival to the Tony Stark’s of the world.
The MCU has seemed to change all that. In the cinematic universe we now have his younger sister, Shuri, taking the mantle of family genius. So where does that leave T’Challa in terms of intellect? The film never really gives us any sort of indication that he is anywhere near as smart as Shuri, or even if his intelligence is anything special at all (like, genius-level special at least).
T’Challa Isn’t a Great Fighter Anymore
Civil War introduced T’Challa as a force to be reckoned with, holding his own against Bucky without the suit, and going toe-to-toe and even beating most of Cap’s team. His fighting style was unique, deadly yet still kind of cat-like in movement.
Black Panther seems to erase most of that. In the film Black Panther (SPOILERS, obviously) nearly loses to M’Baku early on without his powers, and loses pretty badly to Killmonger.
Now, while both fights were interesting enough they don’t show the T’Challa from Civi War, the fierce hand to hang combatant going head to head with the MCU’s best fighters. His loss to Killmonger is especially hard as Killmonger is a good fighter, but someone who wouldn’t last long against any solo Avenger.
So why is it he beats T’Challa so easily?
The Civil War Disconnect
The first thing that feels isolated relates back to Black Panther losing against Killmonger.
When did T’Challa first get the powers from the Heart Shaped Erb?
In the film he already has them, but in Civil War he states he is now the one with the Black Panther mantle because of his father’s passing, so was that T’Challa’s first time being the actual owner of the suit as it’s the King who has the mantle and the powers, or had both taken the Erb before the events of the movie?
It’s not a huge issue, but either way, T’Challa seems to have been nerfed as fighter, hopefully something the Russo Brothers can fix.
If there were any issues I missed, any issues you had, or you just wanna dispute my issues and prove me wrong, yano, please do.
About The Author:
General fan of Marvel and DC properties.