Marvel Has Introduced a New Black Panther in the Comics, With a Major Twist

For as long as he has existed in the comics, part of Black Panther's brilliance came from his role as a proudly Black superhero. The character's Blackness, and his roots in Africa, are typically crucial parts of his identity.

Marvel Knights: The World to Come #1, which is set in the future of the Marvel universe, offers a major twist on that formula as it introduces a new version of the character. Following that introduction, many want to know whether Black Panther has ever been white. Here's what we know.

Until quite recently, the Black Panther had always been Black. That changed, though, with Marvel Knights: The World to Come #1, which introduces a new white iteration of the character.

The issue starts with an elderly version of T'Challa who is challenged for the throne of Wakanda by his son, Ketema. Because of his age, T'Challa loses the challenge and Ketema becomes the new Black Panther.

It isn't until he removes his mask, though, that we see that Ketema is white. All indications are that Ketema is T'Challa's son, but it's not clear how he wound up with blue eyes and blonde hair. That's likely a question that will be answered in future issues of the series, but some suspect that Ketema could be T'Challa's son with Nicole Adams, a character who was first introduced in the comics in the 1970s and is traditionally T'Challa's love interest while he studies in the United States.

Although this series is set in the future, fans are nonetheless not thrilled about introducing a white Black Panther. The character has always been crucial to self-identification among Black people, and the first Black Panther movie was a tremendous success in part because it was the first time that a Black person had been the lead in a Marvel film. To change that up now seems strange, but it's possible that we don't know the full story just yet.

"Chadwick’s death is easily the worst thing to happen for Black Panther. They’ve been playing in the character’s face ever since then. In all mediums too," one person wrote on X.

"So interesting how easy and joyful it is for certain people to accept a white Wakandan in Black Panther but any time more than one Black character appears on a page or in a book together, it’s 'forced,'" another person added.

Although this controversy definitely has some justification, it seems highly possible that Marvel has more cards left up its sleeve. This is just one version of Black Panther, after all, and Ketema might not be the Black Panther by the end of this arc. For now, though, he's got the mantle, and there are plenty of people who wish that Marvel had never gone down this path.