DEV>Queen of Wakanda

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One of the things people may not know about Black Panther is that sister Shuri becomes Black Panther after T'challa is injured (top right). But it wasn't easy. Comic book Shuri wasn't just the quick witted genius she was in the movies--she actively wanted to be Black Panther and missed out on challenging for it by an hour. (A minor call back in the movie when she jokingly says she wants to challenge T'challa but in that case, she just wanted to get out of the clothes she was wearing).

Because being Black Panther required the blessing of the Panther Goddess Baast (in the comics), she couldn't pick up the mantel because Baast saw that she "always coveted it" and "was full of jealousy". T'challa was injured, comatose, Wakanda in danger, so Shuri set out to defend her homeland and family without the power of the Black Panther. Baast saw this--an act of selflessness rather than selfish--and finally blessed her.

But what if, just like the movies, she had a second suit laying around? Shuri has no time for any of these blessings and giant cat fortune tellers. Shuri is a scientist. Scientists get things done with the tools available.

She wears the Golden Jaguar mantel and defeats the threat to Wakanda. So savage is her fighting, however, Oyoke, general of the Dora Mijae express concern--perhaps the suit is cursed. Killmonger fought the same way; ruthless and seemingly taking pleasure in the sport. To show Shuri still has Wakanda's best interests at heart, she incorporates part of the Dora Mijae armor into her own.

But it doesn't stop all of the concern and whispers in the palace. Shuri's changing by the day; more cold, more calculating, more willing to sacrifice lives for the end goal of winning. She seems determined more than ever to remain Queen of Wakanda...regardless of what's in her way.

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Photo by Emazing Studios.

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