'The Road to CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR' Feature: T'Challa, the Black Panther

***This is the third in a series of 'The Road to Civil War' posts leading up to the release of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. ***

T’Challa is heir to the fictional African kingdom of Wakanda and is the first African superhero in American comics (Falcon was the first African-American hero). His mother died during childbirth and his father, T'Chaka, was killed leaving him to inherit rule over the technology advanced nation. His only remaining family is his adopted brother who hates him, and his uncle who was known as the Black Panther.

In order for T’Challa to become the Black Panther, he needed to overcome a series of tests. He studied all around the world and underwent trials in his homeland to win a powerful herb. He eventually overcame the trials and won the herb by defeating his uncle. T’Challa is the prince of Wakanda and takes the name Black Panther because he is the protector of the Panther tribe in Wakanda.

T’Challa first appeared in Fantastic Four Vol. 1 No. 52 (1966) created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. In this issue, he invites the Fantastic Four to visit Wakanda. The Fantastic Four agree to come visit but when they arrive they are attacked and separated. They each face-off against the Black Panther one-by-one until they finally regroup and defeat him as a team. It is then revealed that the Black Panther was just testing them. 

The Black Panther needed the help of the Fantastic Four because of the explorer, Ulysses Klaw. When T’Challa was just a teenager, Klaw came to Wakanda, the home of the rare fictional metal vibranium, to make sonic weapons. This metal is the same that Captain America’s shield is made of. Unfortunately, T’Challa’s father got in the way and was killed by Klaw. Klaw then fights Black Panther and is defeated, losing his right hand in the process. Now the Black Panther needs the help of the Fantastic Four to defeat the returning Klaw and his army. 

T’Challa has been a member of both the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. He joined the Avengers because his father always taught him to be prepared, so he thought it would be to his advantage to spy on the Avengers. However, he soon realized their intentions were good and they gained his trust and his friendship. 

While T’Challa is in America, he goes by the alias of Luke Charles, a teacher. He has a Ph.D in physics form Oxford University and is considered one of the smartest people in the Marvel universe. 

The Black Panther gets his powers from his heart shaped herb that gives him abilities due to the herb’s connection with the Panther God, Bast. As a result of the herb he has super senses, reflexes, stamina, speed, agility, strength, and healing powers. He is also a master at unarmed combat and has the acrobatic skills of a panther. He is very skilled at using weapons but he prefers hand-to-hand combat. His main costume is partially made out of vibranium and he has vibranium boots to allow him to withstand falls and retractable vibranium claws. 

Judging from the CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR trailers, the Black Panther will play an important role in the upcoming film. It seems he's trying to hunt down the Winter Soldier and Captain America is getting in the way of him doing so. He is also shown to be a survivor of an explosion and it looks like this explosion may set the stage for Civil War as the final pushing point for the government to crackdown on super heroes. 

If that's the case and T’Challa witnessed an accident caused by the 'New Avengers' first-hand, then that is a valid reason why he will be fighting along side Iron Man, Vision, Black Widow, War Machine and Spider-Man on May 6.

Written by James Philbrick, Character Profiles -- Click to read James' posts

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