He’s a king, an Avenger, and the first mainstream black superhero. He’s… the Black Panther!
And now he’s finally coming to prominence on the big screen in Captain America: Civil War. So let’s take a look back at the history of the character. Watch the video above, or read on for everything you need to know about the Black Panther…
Fantastic Four #52
The Black Panther was created by the powerhouse duo of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the same team who gave us so many other classic Marvel characters. Kirby initially called the character the Coal Tiger, and designed him with a very different costume. But Lee was always keen on riding the cultural trends of the era, and the name was changed to Black Panther by the time the character went public in 1966. The Black Panther Party would not arrive on the scene until later that year, but some have speculated that the character’s name change was inspired by the logo used by the organization that preceded the Panthers. Whatever the case, the Black Panther was born.
First appearing in Fantastic Four #52 and #53, the Panther invites the FF to his secluded African nation of Wakanda. It’s a technologically advanced land that blends super-science with the traditions of tribal life, belying the standard stereotypical depictions of Africa in the media of the time. In fact, even the Thing keeps dropping Tarzan and jungle movie references in that first story, as if Lee and Kirby wanted to drive home how different their vision of Africa was.
Wakanda! (As seen in Fantastic Four #54, left, and #52, right)
After fighting the FF in order to test his battle readiness, the Panther reveals to the group that he’s T’Challa, chieftain of the land, king of Wakanda, and heir to the Black Panther mantle that his father T'Chaka bore before him, as did his father’s father. T’Challa explains that he’s perhaps the richest man in the world due to Wakanda’s deposits of the rare and valuable mineral vibranium. Vibranium, of course, is the super-hard metal used to create Captain America's shield, and other famed Marvel objects.
T’Challa dedicates himself to mankind.
When T’Challa was still a child, the physicist Ulysses Klaw murdered his father while attempting to steal vibranium. He needed the substance to power his experimental sound weapons, but T’Challa turned Klaw’s own device against him and destroyed his hand. (A somewhat different version of this dismembering supervillain origin was depicted in Avengers: Age of Ultron, where Andy Serkis appeared as Klaw.) Years later, during that first meeting with the FF, Klaw returned and the now adult Black Panther defeated him once again. From there, T’Challa decided to use his fortune and his powers for the service of all mankind.
About those powers: Black Panther is kind of like the Batman of Marvel. He's typically not that powerful per se, but he's smart and rich enough and blessed with enough gadgets to consistently take out enemies that should be well out of his weight class. That said, he does have superhuman senses, speed, strength, and reflexes. His abilities come in part from a heart-shaped herb that all Wakandan chiefs must be exposed to. T’Challa's also a brilliant scientist in his own right -- in fact, he’s considered one of the smartest people on the planet, which is really saying something in the world of Marvel. And his costume is composed of… you guessed it: that nearly indestructible vibranium.
Black Panther joined the Avengers in issue #52 in 1968.
Following his initial adventure with the Fantastic Four, T’Challa found his way into several different Marvel comics. This included his joining the Avengers with issue #52 in 1968, where he replaced none other than Captain America himself. He’d remain a key player among Earth’s Mightiest Heroes before moving on to star in the book Jungle Action in 1973, where in a 13-chapter storyline called “Panther’s Rage,” T’Challa faced a revolt back in Wakanda. This was followed by another arc that pitted the Panther against the Klu Klux Klan. It was obviously an intense and surprising topic for a comic book to tackle in 1976, but once again the Black Panther was pushing boundaries within the industry. And it was stories like this and the Panther’s acceptance in mainstream comics that opened the door for other characters of color to arrive on the scene, such as the Falcon, Luke Cage and Blade.
Jungle Action #21
After Jungle Action ended, T’Challa would get the first of several of his own self-titled comics. And he’d remain an important fixture of the Marvel Universe in other books as well. In more recent years, he got a serious power upgrade when he became the so-called King of the Dead, allowing him to commune with past Black Panthers, not to mention lead an army of undead zombies against Doctor Doom! And he actually wound up marrying -- and then splitting up from -- the X-Man Storm, who it turns out he had had a romance with many years earlier before either of them became superheroes. It’s good to be king.
A popular character since his inception, the Black Panther’s elevation to major player in the MCU will surely only continue to make him more beloved…
Storm and Black Panther marry.
For all things Black Panther, Avengers, and comics, keep it right here on IGN.
Talk to Senior Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottCollura.
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