Although a Black Panthermovie finally became a reality in 2018, there are definitely a few Black Panther tales that won't make it into the film series. These disturbing Black Panther stories range from the bizarre to the deeply troubling.
As Marvel's first African superhero, King T'Challa of Wakanda has routinely tackled issues of racism, as well as complex geo-political politics. Putting aside communal real-world issues, Black Panther is a hero fraught with personal problems. Whenever he takes on Klaw — the villain that killed his father — the fun usually stops, as T'Challa rarely has the self-control to know when to stop beating his nemesis. Additionally, some of the more uncomfortable scenes from recent comics paint the hero as a misogynist who has no problem keeping his country's life-saving advancements under wraps.
No matter how much you already know about Black Panther, some of the hero's grittier moments may still surprise you. Disney wants nothing to do with the ugly aspects of crime fighting.
Photo: Marvel Comics
Black Panther Fought The Ku Klux Klan, And Nearly Lost
Black Panther's earliest solo comics appeared as part of Marvel's Jungle Action series (yikes). At the start, creators were completely down to tackle issues of race in America. While the story is hardly progressive by modern standards, there's something timelessly inspiring about seeing Black Panther beat up hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan.
While a Black Panther movie may tackle similar issues, its highly unlikely that scenes from Jungle Action's "The Panther vs. the Klan" will ever be replicated. In one instance, T'Challa is captured by the Klan and lashed to a cross. Thankfully, the hero narrowly escapes with his life, but the sequence is a deeply disturbing reflection of real-life hatred.
Black Panther Once Changed His Name To Black Leopard To Avoid Political Affiliations
Black Panther is rarely described as a coward, but that's exactly how Marvel made him look in the pages of early '70s Fantastic Four comics. At one point, Black Panther changes his superhero alias to Black Leopard with absolutely no warning. In addition to being a gutless way to distinguish the hero from the revolutionary socialist organization, the name-change also goes against Wakanda's centuries-old tradition of Black Panther heroes.
Shortly before the Thing calls him out for his name change, T'Challa leaps into battle yelling the name "Black Leopard." Maybe he thought he could just sneak it in there and no one would notice. Holding your breath for the on-screen appearance of Black Leopard is ill-advised.
Wakanda's technological and scientific prowess is world renowned. While Black Panther's futuristic kingdom can be endlessly fascinating to learn about, certain advancements raise some disturbing ethical questions.
During negotiations with other countries, some of Wakanda's advisors leverage "the cure for cancer" as a bargaining chip. Allegedly, T'Challa and his nation are sitting on a cure for the devastating disease, but will only share it if they can profit off its use. Black Panther the Big Pharma executive is not exactly heroic.
A Young T'Challa Carried The World's Largest Firearm
As audiences learned in Captain America 3: Civil War, Marvel Studios has already altered the Black Panther's origin. In the MCU, T'Challa's father, King T'Chaka, is killed in an explosion that sets Black Panther on the trail of the Winter Soldier.
In the comic book, Black Panther's origin is revealed during Fantastic Four #52. The considerably darker written version shows T'Challa's father dying when he is a child. In retaliation, the small prince seeks his revenge on the murderous Ulysses Klaw using a Jack Kirby designed mega-gun.
T'Challa apparently possesses the technology to stop all gunfire. In the New Fantastic Four series, Storm and Black Panther are leading a team of heroes, who come dangerously close to getting gunned down by the police. Just before bullets begin raining down on the crew, T'Challa tells everyone not to worry, then casually mentions that "Wakanda developed technology to defeat firearms centuries ago."
While the moment is supposed to be humorous, it ends up raising some serious questions. If Black Panther can really disable any firearm without lifting a finger, why doesn't he make this technology freely available to the countless regions that suffer daily from gun violence?
Considering that the comics have yet to follow up on this pressing issue, it's highly unlikely that a movie will ever rise to the challenge.
During Spider-Island, Black Panther sprouts four extra arms in a disgusting display of body horror. Sure, everything T'Challa does looks insanely cool, but he's still definitely creepy with arms exploding out of his rib cage.
While Marvel Studios has a long and bright future ahead of it, Spider-Island feels like a story uniquely suited for comics. It would be quite shocking if Black Panther's spider-phase made it to the big screen, though if it does, it would be pretty sweet to see Overdrive and Lady Bullseye (the saga's villains) there as well.
