Black Panther: Blood Hunt Writer Cheryl Lynn Eaton on T’Challa’s Vampire Possession (Exclusive)

A major change to Black Panther is going to take place inside the pages of Blood Hunt. The Marvel crossover event is almost upon us, and it will plunge the Marvel Universe into darkness, all due to the rise of vampires. Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will assemble to fight the vampire army in the Blood Hunt event, and readers should anticipate some of their favorite heroes to become victims of the vampire bite. One of those heroes is the Black Panther, the former King of Wakanda. While Blood Hunt will surely address the change to T’Challa, the Black Panther: Blood Hunt tie-in series will focus on how he’s dealing with this change, and how he plans to fight back at the vampires.

ComicBook.com spoke to writer Cheryl Lynn Eatonabout Black Panther: Blood Hunt to find out what the creative team has planned for Black Panther’s journey into vampirism. Eaton spoke about following in the footsteps of the current Black Panther creative team of writer Eve L. Ewing and Marvel Stormbreakers artist Chris Allen, T’Challa ending his Wakandan exile, a secret mission the vampires send him on, introducing demons and monsters rooted in African mythology, Wakanda’s history with vampires, and much more.

We can also exclusively reveal the first look at pages from Black Panther: Blood Hunt #1 by Farid Karami and Andrew Dalhouse.

New status quo

ComicBook.com: The announcement of Black Panther: Blood Hunt was one of the first spinoffs/tie-ins to confirm an established hero is turned into a vampire in Blood Hunt. From a creative standpoint, how was it coming aboard an event like this where Black Panther’s status quo has been fundamentally shaken?

Cheryl Lynn Eaton: First and foremost, credit must be given to the Black Panther creative team of Eve L. Ewing and Chris Allen for building such a solid foundation for T’Challa! T’Challa now knows who he is as a man and as a hero. What Farid and I wanted to explore was if T’Challa could protect that core when so much about him physically has changed. How does one maintain their humanity when they are no longer human? How can one serve and lead humanity if one is engineered to prey upon it?

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T’Challa’s return home and secret vampire mission

How is T’Challa handling not only returning to Wakanda’s capital city for the first time since his exile, but also serving the vampires with this secret mission?

I consider Black Panther: Blood Hunt to be a “boss battle” for T’Challa. The challenges in this series are necessary for him to face in order to level up. T’Challa is home, but he is not on familiar turf! Even though he is within the “Golden City,” it still eludes him. To truly be home is a prize he will have to fight for in this series. But Bast has confidence in her champion.

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Mythological demons steeped in African lore

What can you tell us about the African mythological demons you’re introducing alongside artist Farid Karami?

Though Dracula has had an impeccable PR team throughout the centuries, vampiric myths are not limited to Romania! I had quite a fun time digging through West and Central African lore and Farid’s renditions of these mythological creatures are incredible. He is truly a superstar in the making. I realize that’s very much a “wait and see” answer, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise by naming names!

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Wakanda’s ties to vampires

Hopefully I’m reading this right, but one of your quotes when Black Panther: Blood Hunt was announced seemed to tease a deeper connection between T’Challa and vampires. What secrets are readers going to learn about Wakanda’s ties to the creatures of the night?

The Marvel Universe is a gorgeous tapestry—and when you pull on a thread, you might be surprised by the origin point you are led to! Wakanda was for many years an isolated nation, but that isolation did not mean that Wakanda did not have an impact far beyond its borders. Hopefully, I will not get in trouble with the Marvel powers that be for this answer—but within the Marvel Universe the origin of the vampire is rooted in three specific realms. I think I can safely say that one of those realms is Wakanda.

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Final thoughts

To wrap up, any final thoughts you want to leave with fans as we head towards Black Panther: Blood Hunt?

Creating this story with Farid Karami and Andrew Dalhouse has been a dream and we have given it our absolute all—as T’Challa will soon do on May 29!

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