Black Panther & Storm’s Son Becomes The Panther of Marvel’s Future

In one potential future of the Marvel Universe the son of T’challa, the Black Panther, and the X-Man Storm carries on his parents’ legacy and becomes the hero The Panther. T’Chaka II debuted in the 2009 Exiles series by Jeff Parker and Salva Espin that has the hero plucked out of his native timeline alongside four other heroes to serve as the mutant Blink’s new team of Exiles.

The Panther is first introduced in Exiles #1 as a member of the new iteration of Exiles: a team of heroes hailing from across the vast multiverse assembled to protect it by undergoing missions to different universes and saving them from disaster. The Panther is plucked from Earth-1119, in the middle of a pitched battle with the villain Klaw, and joins Polaris (Earth-8149), Beast (Earth-763), Forge (Earth-2814), and the Scarlet Witch (Earth- 823). The five heroes are teamed with original Exiles member Blink from Earth-295, posing as a new member herself, and are convinced that they have been taken from their respective universes just before the moment of their deaths and that there is no way home for them. They are then dispatched to Earth-90631 with instructions to stop that reality’s version of Magneto, the ruler of the mutant nation of Genosha, from bringing about the destruction of Earth through continuing escalation of conflict between Genosha and the rest of the world.

During a lull in the mission’s chaos, the Panther learns from Forge of Earth-2814 that he was married to the Storm of his universe. Forge laments to the Panther that, after accessing Magneto’s databases, he has learned that the Storm of this Earth never left Africa and instead married King T’challa of Wakanda. Forge concludes that this outcome is likely to be the norm across most of the multiverse and angrily lambasts the overly-flirtatious Panther stating that he hoped for a better husband for his one true love. Panther then reveals to Forge and Polaris that, rather than being a variant of T’challa, he is T’challa and Storm’s son named T’Chaka II, named after his grandfather. He assures Forge that Storm will be happy with T’challa who himself “never looked at another woman.” This also explains to the other members of the team how widely different from their versions of Black Panther T’Chaka II is, with Polaris commenting: “I thought you seemed too happy-go-lucky for the Black Panther I’ve heard about.”

While it is encouraging for readers to hear that in at least one reality Storm and Black Panther’s marriage endures, T’Chaka II is not depicted as exactly the ideal inheritor of the Wakandan crown. T’Chaka II admits that he spent most of his life growing up in the United States and, while he is depicted as a capable fighter and master of stealth, he is also deeply unserious and obsessed with chasing women. Arguably his immaturity can be explained by the fact he is only twenty years old and the series does suggest the character has more of his father and mother’s maturity and wisdom below the surface. In the final issue of the series in Exiles #6, the Exiles learn that while they were indeed snatched from the moment of their deaths, they can return home. T’Chaka II learns that it is possible for him to return home without seriously disrupting the time stream, but chooses not to after learning that if he doesn’t his sister Sh’ri will go on to be the greatest Black Panther of all time.

This decision shows that T’Chaka II has inherited the sound judgment of his parents and has enough wisdom to realize his reality would be better off if he bows out in favor of his sister. In both T’Chaka II, and his sister Sh’ri, readers can be satisfied that Black Panther and Storm make as good parents as they do heroes.

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