The Ultimate Black Panther Was a Mutant

Being the only son of King T’Chaka, T’Challa trained for the day that he would challenge for the throne of Wakanda and the right to become the Black Panther. He partook in the ancient traditions passed down since Wakanda’s first king and became the next ruler of Wakanda. Through this grueling process, T’Challa became a literal superhuman whose body could handle the responsibilities of being his country’s king as well as one of the most respected and feared superheroes on the planet. But there are easier ways to get to the top.

When it came to his Ultimate Marvel counterpart, life took this alternate universe T’Challa in another direction when he almost lost his life failing to complete the Black Panther trial. When Wakanda’s doctors failed, his father reached out to the United States for assistance and it was their Weapon X program that not only saved his life but made him into a mutant (an artificial state in the Ultimate Universe), giving him the powers necessary to become their Black Panther.

Although T’Challa made his Ultimate debut in Ultimate Origins #5, his backstory was further fleshed out in UltimateCaptain America #1 where he was named as T’Challa Udaku, the youngest son of King T’Chaka of Wakanda. In the story by Jeph Loeb with art by Marko Djurdjevic and Rafa Sandoval, this parallel Marvel dimension saw T’Challa impatiently ignore tradition and take on the legendary trial to prove himself both as a ruler and warrior. But when the trial – which consisted of hunting and defeating a black panther in combat – turned fatal, T’Chaka desperately sought all alternatives to save his son, breaking Wakanda’s isolation from the outside world to seek medical treatment from the United States. T’Challa ended up in the care of the Weapon X program who used the same treatment that turned James Howlett into Wolverine to save T’Challa’s life.

Although they were unable to repair his damaged vocal chords, Weapon X was able to give T’Challa extraordinary abilities, pushing his strength, speed, and reflexes to superhuman levels. Similar to Wolverine, T’Challa received a moderate healing factor as well as small retractable adamantium claws on both hands, earning the codename “Black Panther”. T’Challa would have most likely been manipulated to become a mutant assassin, but was saved by Nick Fury when SHIELD aggressively took control of Weapon X. Fury called T’Chaka personally to let him know his son was now property of the United States government, much to his outrage. In this case, T’Challa was a victim of his own hubris and entitlement, turned into a mutant without his consent and punished to live as a lethal yet silent weapon kept from his beloved homeland.

It wasn’t until his old sparring partner Captain America started investigating his past that T’Challa’s origin story was revealed, though Fury claimed that T’Challa had been born a mutant, implying his conservative father was to blame for his damaged vocal chords. Nick Fury wasn’t above lying to and manipulating others to serve his own goals (in this case, keeping the artificial nature of Ultimate mutants a secret), and Captain America realized this, switching places with T’Challa so he could finally go home. The Ultimate Black Panther‘s story is a more tragic one than his mainstream counterpart, proving that you truly have to be careful what you wish for, as the price you pay could be steeper than you imagine.

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