Marvel’s new Heroes Reborn event is arriving in May, seeing an entirely rewritten universe in which the Avengers never assembled. Instead, the Squadron Supreme of America have become the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in their place. Furthermore, it’s been reported that the void of the Avengers will create a ripple effect, causing several other elements of Marvel history to unfold in new ways. One of the most interesting alterations is the idea that the Black Panther‘s kingdom of Wakanda will have remained a myth, never revealing itself to world.
Black Panther’s first appearance was in 1966’s Fantastic Four #52, seeing Marvel’s First Family coming into contact with King T’Challa, while also discovering the existence of his secret and technologically advanced kingdom of Wakanda, hidden deep within Africa. Over time, King T’Challa chose to expand Wakanda’s presence and relationship with the rest of the world, while often offering his own aid and support as one of the Avengers. However, images from the new Heroes Reborn event suggest that the Fantastic Four never got their powers in this new universe, which means that they’ll never become the Fantastic Four and have the adventures they had, including meeting King T’Challa.
In the summary for May’s Heroes Reborn event, it’s revealed that Wakanda never made those strides to integrate with the rest of the world in this new universe. ‘Welcome to a world where Tony Stark never built an Iron Man armor. Where Thor is a hard-drinking atheist who despises hammers. Where Wakanda is dismissed as a myth.’ While it could be because the Fantastic Four never met the Black Panther, it could also be that the world under the protection of the jingoistic Squadron Supreme of America is not one that the nation of Wakanda ever felt comfortable joining. However, since Latveria’s ruler Doctor Doom has already been teased as a major opponent of the Squadron, it could also come to pass that the corrupted Phil Coulson (who seems to be positioned as one of the major villains of the event) saw the nation as a threat. If that’s the case, it’s possible that he could have sent his brainwashed SSA to eliminate the African nation entirely in secret, with none of the general public ever knowing about its existence.
It’s equally possible that this new universe could also have had a different king and Black Panther other than T’Challa – someone like M’Baku or Erik Killmonger – who might have wanted to keep Wakada hidden and isolated as they had been for decades. Recent Black Panther comics have featured Wakanda expanding into the stars, using their vast resources of Vibranium and advanced technologies to spread out into the stars. It’s possible that Wakanda never reached out to the rest of the world, and subsequently just left the planet behind to colonize new worlds, only to be remembered in myths and legends.
Wakanda remaining hidden in this reality opens up a range of possibilities, though since the event is spinning out of Jason Aaron’s Avengers run, which sees T’Challa as team leader, it’s likely fans will have their questions answered as to why he isn’t on the world stage. Coulson and his master Mephisto are likely the ones to blame for the new universe that Heroes Reborn will introduce, and it will be incredibly interesting to see what the Black Panther and his nation’s role will be in its future.
