The first issue of a new Marvel Knights series titled The World To Come by Christopher Priest, Joe Quesada, Richard Isanove and Richard Starkings is now on shelves, and this comic is going to leave fans with a lot to discuss.
Major spoilers ahead.
The issue begins with the death of T'Challa as an old man... but this isn't the big reveal (the story takes place in the future, after all). We then flash back to the events that led to the hero's demise.
After Storm is killed in the "Race War," T'Challa seeks to preserve his legacy by having a child with an early love interest from the comics named Monica Lynne. The boy, Ketema, grows to resent his father, ultimately challenging him for the rule of Wakanda.
Ketema defeats T'Challa (while obviously sparing his life, though we're not sure why just yet), before unmasking to reveal that he is, in fact... white.
How did T'Challa have a Caucasian son with Monica Lynne? There's speculation that he may also have had a child with Nicole Adams, who appears to be depicted on the cover of issue #3. This character was seemingly killed off back in 2000, but that doesn't necessarily mean all that much in the world of comic books.
There could be another explanation, of course, but whatever twist and turns may lay ahead, it looks like the next character to hold the mantle of Black Panther on the page is a white guy.
Here's what Priest had to say about T'Challa's death (he doesn't weigh in on Ketema's debut) during an interview with AITP Comics.
“Oh, he dies on page 2, so… ‘Woah, what happened here? Did somebody put something in his soup?’ Well you’re gonna have to read to find out,” said the writer. “The story is not about him dying, it’s about how we got to this point. And I think that’s the more significant thing. That’s the good stuff that we don’t want to reveal.”
“We know sooner or later everybody dies," he added. "Now, the question is what happens to all the toys? It’s very scary if Black Panther dies, because he’s got a lot of toys that we know about and a lot of toys we don’t know about. And we established in our series, 30 years ago, that in a desk drawer, he’s got all these plans for how to defeat, you know, Batman. He knows how to take down Galactus. He’s got all these like, contingency plans. Or as Jack Nicholson said, ‘All these marvelous toys.’ So the crisis is, what now? OK, Black Panther’s dead, what now?”
Have you read the issue yet? What do you make of this development? Let us know in the comment section down below.
MARVEL KNIGHTS THE WORLD TO COME #1 (OF 6)
(W) Christopher Priest (A/CA) Joe Quesada
THE FUTURE OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE IS HERE!
Two of the most visionary creators in comic history show you THE WORLD TO COME! The King of Wakanda is DEAD, leaving unguarded the world's most advanced technology, most precious metal, and a cryptic vault of dark secrets while triggering global conflicts among Marvel's heroes, villains and mutants. With T'Challa gone, the future of the Marvel 616 Universe will be determined by a final tribal challenge for the Wakandan throne and the mysterious victor who will change Wakanda, and the Marvel Universe, forever.