Well, this isn’t something I thought I’d be writing this morning; Marvel just unveiled a new Black Panther, and they’re… white?
Alright, let’s start from the top on this one (because god knows you’re gonna need as much context as possible before I explain).
As revealed in an article by Comicbook's Tim Adams, someone completely new has taken over the mantle of Black Panther (and I’m just going to link this video here for absolutely no reason).
There's a new spin-off Marvel Comic titled Marvel Knights: The World To Come, set in the Marvel Knights imprint.
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Now, for clarity’s sake, yes, Marvel Knights comics are canon. The imprint isn’t a spin-off in the sense that the comics are in their own universe, but rather that they allow Marvel to tell stories that are aimed at older readers (they can say swear words!)
In the latest and first issue of Marvel Knights: The World To Come, it’s revealed that T’Challa’s son is a white boy called Ketema.
We learn this after Ketema beats T’Challa in a fight and claims the mantle of Black Panther, because he removes his mask immediately after.
Again, for clarity’s sake, T’Challa directly refers to Ketema as his son. Assumedly, this doesn’t mean that Ketema is his biological son, but who knows what Marvel Comics editorial has planned at this point.
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So, what’s going on here? Why did they choose to do this? There’s a pretty straightforward reason for that; because of articles like the one you’re currently reading.
Look, let’s be real for a second– the likes of Fox News and the Daily Mail are going to have a bloody field day with this. I can see the headlines now, “Black Panther has gone anti-woke!” or some other, probably way more racist rubbish.
Marvel are doing this to generate headlines and sell comics, and it’s working… because here I am… writing this.
Sheesh, are the comic sales really going that badly, guys?