In the original world of Marvel Zombies, Black Panther had arguably the most heartbreaking story as he was dealt tragedy after tragedy.
By any measure, Black Panther is one of Marvel’s greatest leaders. He led Wakanda through various wars, even facing off against the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda in Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Black Panther run. T’Challa has even been shown to be one of the most successful Avengers’ leaders, but his time in the world of Marvel Zombies put his leadership skills to their limit.
T’Challa was in New York when the Avengers were first turned into zombies as seen in Marvel Zombies: Dead Days #1 by Kirkman, Sean Phillips, June Chung, and Rus Wooten. He had just escaped an attack by the zombies with Giant-Man, but unfortunately, Giant-Man had been bitten during the attack. Knowing that he would need nourishment when he inevitably turned, Hank Pym elected to knock T’Challa unconscious and store his body. Pym would keep T’Challa alive as the zombies decimated the population. Whenever Pym needed more energy, he would feed on T’Challa.
Wasp would eventually find herself following Pym back to his lab where she discovered T’Challa. This caused Giant-Man to bite her head off of her body, believing that he killed her. She was still alive though, and T’Challa would make sure to grab her head before making his escape. He stumbled upon the Acolytes who were in search of Magneto. The Acolytes brought T’Challa and Wasp aboard Asteroid M, where they stayed in orbit for 5 years before returning to Earth.
Over the next 40 years, T’Challa would lead the Acolytes within New York, renamed New Wakanda. His leadership was questioned by the next generation of Acolytes whose leader had sent an assassin to kill Black Panther. The assassin stabbed T’Challa, but he was saved by Wasp who had effectively turned him into a zombie. He then was locked away from the rest of civilization until his hunger had subsided. Worse yet, the zombified heroes had wiped all life from the galaxy and were returning to Earth.
To defeat this threat, one of the Acolytes’ scientists transferred the zombified brain of Captain America into the body of T’Challa’s deceased son. This greatly angered T’Challa but he continued to fight the zombies. Giant-Man crushed T’Challa with his palm, removing the entire lower half of his body. The zombies soon realized that they no longer had a hunger and decided that they could help the Acolytes instead of consuming them. The leader of the young Acolytes then revealed that he was behind T’Challa’s assassination attempt, his son’s death, and was planning to kill his grandson. The new leader was then able to send the zombies through the recently fixed dimensional transporter, removing them from this reality.
Though Black Panther was not one of the Avengers turned during the initial outbreak, he had arguably the most traumatic experience. While he did not partake in eradicating humanity, he was one of the few survivors who had to live with the aftermath. The atrocity of Giant-Man’s actions toward T’Challa is straight out of a horror movie. When things finally seemed to be back on track, T’Challa’s son was murdered. The fact that he was teleported away from his family after they had finally achieved peace proves that T’Challa’s story is nothing but tragedy.
There really are not any characters that escape Marvel Zombies without some form of heartbreak, but Spider-Man had it almost as hard as Black Panther. Peter was bitten early on and returned home to warn Mary Jane and Aunt May. He would consume the two women he cared the most about before joining the other zombies. Peter seems to have a firmer grasp on his mental state than the others and truly struggles with the zombies’ actions.
The difference between Spider-Man and Black Panther is that Spider-Man played a huge role in the eradication of life in the galaxy. Spider-Man can only blame himself for his actions whereas Black Panther always tried to do the right thing, but was only left with tragedy. Even when Black Panther was turned he still maintained some of his humanity and did not consume his wife. Even in the worst of times, T’Challa finds a way to be better.
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