A Major Marvel Hero Returns in Black Panther Agents of Wakanda

Black Panther Agents of Wakanda has been a fun ride for people who have been jonesing for their fix of espionage action in the Marvel corner of the comics universe. The roster for this title might be a little all over the place for new readers, but there is a surprise at the end of this week’s issue that might throw long-time Marvel fans for a loop. A very scary figure makes his entrance in Black Panther Agents of Wakanda #1. *Spoilers for the first issue ahead!*

The Agents of Wakanda come to a small place in Oklahoma to investigate some strange alien activity. Wasp, Okoye, Black Panther, and Fat Cobra all go to get a look at what’s going on at the ground level. They fight off some very agitated aliens before a giant storm kicks up near their location. Fat Cobra comes face to face with the twister and shouts some quick banter at it. That bravado doesn’t last long as The Sentry reveals himself at the eye of the storm.

The Sentry is a character that plays with the hidden darkness at the heart of everyone, even those with heroic intention. His powers equal the power of 1 million exploding suns, and that is a lot of pressure for anyone to be carrying around at once. The Void, a creature of pure evil resides within the hero to bring balance to all the good Sentry can do. It’s a troubling dilemma and one that Black Panther’s band of strange heroes is going to have their hands full trying to contain.

Old Bob Reynolds isn’t the only surprise waiting in the pages of Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda. This team was built to serve a similar function to S.H.I.E.L.D., and that means that espionage is going to be the prevailing way of getting things done. Familiar faces like Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor are nowhere to be found on this new Avengers support team.

Man-Wolf, Ka-Zar, and Gorilla Man all get their chance to shine in the new title. Sometimes it feels like the writers took a big index of Marvel characters, twirled around on a baseball bat, and threw a dart at a big board to decide who to include. But, the results have been fun so far. Although, we haven’t seen a ton of Gorilla Man or Ka-Zar in action yet. Okoye seems skeptical of the team that her king has put together, but she is willing to be proven wrong.

Nothing draws a team together quickly like a bit of crisis, and these agents are going to meet some adversity head-on with this fight against The Sentry. Hopefully, they have some sort of plan with the brains in the room, because brawn alone isn’t going to get it done this time.