Warning: contains potential spoilers for Black Panther: Blood Hunt #2!

Both Black Panther and Moon Knight have lore that runs deep, and now they are forever intertwined, as Khonshu faces Bast the Panther God. In a preview for Black Panther: Blood Hunt #2, fans are transported back to a long gone era. There, Khonshu encounters Bast for the first time. The single-minded Khonshu nearly triggers a massive god war, and deepens the connection between two Marvel icons.

Marvel shared a preview for Black Panther: Blood Hunt #2 with AIPT. The book will be written by Cheryl Lynn Eaton and drawn by Farid Karami. The preview opens with a Fist of Khonshu fleeing the First Blasphemy. After it kills her, Khonshu comes to avenge her, but Bast tells him to stay his hand. Bast challenges Khonshu’s presence in the region, asking what might happen if a god from an East African pantheon fought a counterpart from West Africa.

Bast concludes by saying it would start a war between the gods.

Moon Knight and Black Panther Share Some Key Traits

It is a Surprise Bast and Khonshu Have Not Crossed Paths Earlier

Moon Knight and Black Panther draw heavily on mythology and folklore. Moon Knight is the avatar of the Egyptian god Khonshu, who protects travelers at night. There have been many of these avatars, also called the Fists of Khonshu, stretching back to antiquity. Traveling westward, the Black Panther is the champion of Wakanda, and is represented by the god Bast, who manifests itself as a gigantic black panther. These two pantheons had yet to collide, until the events of Blood Hunt, which has seen Black Panther turned into a vampire by his former ally Blade.

Although the bulk of the preview is set many millennia before the start of Blood Hunt, it lays the groundwork for a god feud that will extend to the present day. Given that both Khonshu and Bast are African deities, it makes perfect sense that the two would meet sometime before the 21st century. Just as there have been Fists of Khonshu going back to prehistory, there have been Black Panthers in nearly every era as well. Any conflict between Moon Knight and Black Panther could destroy not only the African continent, but the planet Earth as a whole.

Will Khonshu Seek Revenge Upon Bast?

How Will Their Meeting in the Past Affect the Present?

This meeting thousands of years ago will reverberate in the Marvel Universe of today. While Khonshu and Bast slug it out in the distant past, their present-day avatars must find a way to stop the vampire invasion. Vampires are natural enemies of Khonshu and Moon Knight, which will complicate any efforts to save Black Panther and turn him back to the side of good. Hunter’s Moon, the current avatar of Khonshu, must rely on his patron god if he wishes to save Black Panther and the Earth.

Source: AIPT

Black Panther: Blood Hunt #2 is on sale June 19 from Marvel Comics!