Black Panther Confronts the Villain Behind His Exile From Wakanda (Exclusive)

March 2, 2023, 3:17pm

John Ridley wraps up his tenure on Black Panther in an exclusive preview of his final issue. T’Challa has had to contend with his childhood best friend, Jhai, faking his own death and exposing Black Panther’s secret sleeper agent program. The fallout resulted in a Wakanda civil war and Black Panther being kicked out of the Avengers. Jhai eventually returned as the leader of a terrorist organization, leaving T’Challa to rally his remaining allies to take him down. After a brief conflict with the Avengers and Namor surprisingly coming to the aid of Wakanda, we can see how “All This and the World, Too” wraps up.

ComicBook.com has the exclusive preview of Black Panther #15 by John Ridley, German Peralta, Jesus Aburtov, and VC’s Joe Sabino. It features a confrontation between Black Panther and Jhai, with both figures having visions of their own victory. Black Panther claims his remaining purpose is to kill Jhai, while Jhai states his training under T’Challa gives him the upper hand. “You shaped me in your image,” Jhai says. “But I’m not just a version of you. I’m better than you.” However, T’Challa counters that there’s only one way this story between the former best friends is going to end.

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Marvel Reveals New Black Panther Costume

T’Challa will be sporting a brand new costume when Marvel’s Black Panther series relaunches this summer. The creative team of writer Eve L. Ewing (Monica Rambeau: Photon, Ironheart) and Marvel’s Stormbreaker artist Chris Allen are taking over Black Panther, setting a new path for the former king of Wakanda. They follow John Ridley’s run on Black Panther. A new direction for Black Panther calls for a change in his look, and Marvel has revealed the first look at T’Challa’s redesigned costume on Taurin Clarke’s cover of Black Panther #1, along with a design sheet by Chris Allen.

The series finds T’Challa a fugitive in Wakanda, though he still lurks on the streets as its protector in a sleek new outfit. Chris Allen’s design sheet gives a better look at the Black Panther costume, which features extra utility belts, a spear, and a shoulder shield for protection.

“I am so excited for people to see this character design! T’Challa is going to be looking really different. It’s much more edgy and kind of homespun. It’s not so sleek and slick. Not giving too much away from the story, he’s trying not to be seen. He’s kind of working incognito,” Ewing told TODAY. “What I can say, honestly, is that we will be seeing Wakanda in a way that we have not seen it ever before.”

The exclusive preview of Black Panther #15 is below. The issue goes on sale Wednesday, March 8th.