Warning! Spoilers ahead for Black Panther #4
Marvel Comics’ new Black Panther series has turned King T’Challa into DC’s Batman (which is not a good thing). The levels of paranoia Black Panther has been displaying are on par with the Dark Knight at his worst, seeing as how T’Challa’s hidden secrets and dark contingency plans are in danger of being exposed. Furthermore, King T’Challa has seemingly become blind to reason by not trusting his allies as seen in this latest issue.
In previous issues of Black Panther from John Ridley, Juann Cabal, and Ibrahim Moustafa, Wakanda has gained a new form of democracy with a parliamentary government. While the Black Panther is still king, he doesn’t have the same kind of unilateral authority he once did. While his nation and its people now have a greater voice, T’Challa feels as though his ability to protect Wakanda has been limited. Likewise, T’Challa has been urgently trying to cover up his most secret and morally questionable program which has been discovered by a new sinister organization. Following the death of one of his agents, Black Panther has confessed to Shuri that he’s had sleeper assassins positioned all over the globe, ready to be activated in case a nation decided to turn on Wakanda. Naturally, if this secret were to be publically exposed it would have multiple consequences on levels both political and personal for Wakanda and its Black Panther.
Not only has Black Panther been keeping the truth from the majority of his allies and loved ones (such as the X-Men’s Storm), it’s also caused him to become irrational. While the first of his assassins to be killed was one of his best friends named Jhai, he was able to save the next agent Omolola (who loved Jhai). Despite being stationed in different parts of the globe, the two often broke protocol to meet a few times a year. Now, Omolola has inserted herself into T’Challa’s mission, determined to save the other assassins before they too are killed. After Shuri finds evidence that the attackers are seemingly Wakandan as well, T’Challa makes assumptions in his paranoia that Omolola is a traitor and can’t be trusted. As such, Black Panther has become Batman at his worst, hitting a new low by being similarly distrusting, having secret contingencies (like Batman has with the Justice League), and letting his paranoia guide him beyond reason.
While Black Panther wins his duel with his agent and places Omolola into custody, it makes no sense for her to be a traitor. She and Jhai loved each other and he was the first one to die by sacrificing himself to save her. While there may be evidence to suggest one of T’Challa’s sleeper agents has turned traitor and is behind the murders, it’s very unlikely that it’s Omolola. However, Black Panther’s new levels of distrust and paranoia have compromised him, especially as he’s dealing with the loss of one of his best friends.
While Black Panther achieving these Dark Knight levels of secrecy and paranoia is interesting and makes for a dynamic arc, it hopefully won’t become the new status quo for T’Challa going forward. Black Panther is clearly at his lowest in this new series as he’s struggling to keep his secrets and lies hidden. Regardless, the truth will likely be exposed despite his efforts, forcing Black Panther to deal with the fallout in the issues to come. While there will likely be some major consequences, at least he’ll be able to move on as a better hero, rather than being a problematic Marvel version of Batman.
