History YMMV / BlackPanther

* HarsherInHindsight: The already infamous plot point in Reginald Hudlin's run where T'Challa justified withholding a cure for cancer from the rest of the world takes on a dark sort of irony knowing that his Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse actor, Creator/ChadwickBoseman, died of colon cancer at only 43 years old.

* HarsherInHindsight: Hudlin's 2005 run of Black Panther reveals that Wakanda has developed a cure for cancer, which they refused to share with the rest of the world. This can be a lot more uncomfortable when Creator/ChadwickBoseman, the actor playing Black Panther in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, passed away as a result of cancer.

** Perhaps the biggest BrokenBase to come in the Panther fandom was the marriage - and subsequent divorce - of T'challa and [[ComicBook/{{Storm}} Ororo Munroe]]. An avid fandom absolutely loved the idea of wedding Marvel's two oldest and most famous African superheroes and were saddened when they broke up. An equally avid hatedom despised the idea, citing it as a case of StrangledByTheRedString (as explained under its entry) and reeking of [[TokenShipping tokenism]], and were ecstatic (or at least thought it was the most natural result) when T'challa divorced Storm and she made it plain afterwards that it was over.

** Hudlin's ''Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of our Fathers'' miniseries retconed a short WWII flashback in the first issue of Hudlin's run that had Captain America losing to an unnamed WWII Black Panther in a CurbStompBattle. The mini gave the context behind the fight while leaving the result ambiguous. It fleshed out the Black Panther, now identified as Azzuri T'Challa's grandfather, and having him and Cap become friends while allying against the Red Skull.

** The beginning of Hudlin's run had a Wakandan suggest bartering the cure for cancer to the U.S., a notion which someone else dismisses because, "They'll just take the gift and turn it into a weapon, like they do with everything else". In ''ComicBook/DarkReign'' it's revealed that ComicBook/NormanOsborn had weaponized a cancer cure for use against people like SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}}.

* CantUnhearIt: Creator/ChadwickBoseman and Creator/JamesCMathisIII have both become fan favorite choices for T'Challa's voice. Mathis in particular became one of the few cast members of ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' to reprise his role for ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'', and even attended the premiere of the first live-action ''Black Panther'' movie (to promote ''Avengers, Assemble!'').

* MyRealDaddy: Don [=McGregor=] and Christopher Priest:

** While it didn't sell particularly well at the time and it got complex to the point of near-parody, Christopher Priest's run on the character in the late 1990s is one of the most well-regarded runs in Marvel's recent history, and is one of the big reasons why so many fans were upset with Reginald Hudlin's run. Many of Priest's concepts were watered down or reimagined by Hudlin.

** [[ComicBook/BlackPanther Comic]]: [[SinisterMinister Reverend Doctor Michael Ibn al-Hajj Achebe]], while allegedly having had his wife cheat on him and the rebel leader she ran off with having burned his farm to the ground, goes [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse far beyond any reasonable actions]]. He started off by allegedly murdering everyone who'd ever met his wife--up to and including a merchant who once sold her shoes. Next, he went around starting race wars for fun. That was before he made a [[DealWithTheDevil deal]] with ComicBook/{{Mephisto}} to try and destroy Panther just because, murdered a child as a diversionary tactic, and started a race riot in Washington, D.C. while trying to manipulate Panther into accidentally killing his own ex-girlfriend. Since then, he's mostly limited himself to [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals starving animals to death]], torture, and just generally doing whatever will cause the most harm, taking sheer glee in his actions.

** Some people *really, really hate* Reginald Hudlin's run on the comic, finding the T'Challa/Storm marriage forced and seeing Hudlin portraying Wakanda as [[MarySuetopia too perfect]]. Some people love it for the Panther/Storm marriage, cool victories for T'Challa, external villains instead of the endless Wakandan coups and civil wars of the [=McGregor=]/Priest years, and a light-hearted, fun tone.

** Wakanda is, similarly, subject to both abject praise by fans who love its strong AfroFuturism theme and the fact it has never been conquered in its history, and to derision by people who see it as a MarySuetopia.
** Perhaps the biggest BrokenBase was the marriage - and subsequent divorce - of T'challa and [[ComicBook/{{Storm}} Ororo Munroe]]. An avid fandom absolutely loved the idea of wedding Marvel's two oldest and most famous African superheroes and were incensed when they broke up. An equally avid hatedom despised the idea, citing it as a case of StrangledByTheRedString (as explained under its entry) and reeking of tokenism, and were ecstatic (or at least thought it was the most natural result) when T'challa divorced Storm and she made it plain afterwards that it was over.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Everett Ross, T'Challa's best friend. His [[DemotedToExtra demotion to extra]] in Hudlin's run is still a sore point for fans.

** While it didn't sell particularly well at the time and it got complex to the point of near-parody, Christopher Priest's run on the character in the late 1990s is one of the most well-regarded runs in Marvel's recent history, and is one of the big reasons why so many commentators are upset with Reginald Hudlin's run. Many of Priest's concepts were watered down or reimagined by Hudlin.

** As of 2018, when ''Film/BlackPanther'' was released, Black Panther and Wakanda as a whole are given a more active role in the comics continuity such as the ''Avengers(2018)'' series. A lot of fans felt that it's simply an attempt on Marvel's part to ride on the movie's popularity to draw in more readers.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Many believed that [[spoiler:the death of Shuri acted as [[StuffedIntoTheFridge emotional angst]] for T'Challa instead of any real conclusion to her role as Black Panther in the "End Times" storyline]]. The 2016 comic corrects this by [[spoiler: following Shuri's adventures in Djali, the plane of ancestral memory, and bringing her back to life soon after.]]

** Christopher Priest's run essentially redefined Black Panther in every way and is almost universally loved. Reginald Hudlin's work was tolerated only as long as it reworked Priest's ideas; the second he went in his own direction sales tanked.
** Creator/TaNehisiCoates' current run is shaping up to be one as well.

* PanderingToTheBase: The abrupt ending of the T'Challa/Storm marriage in ''Avengers vs. X-Men'' has been interpreted as a present for detractors of the Hudlin era.

** The influence of Creator/VinDiesel on Kasper Cole's appearance might now seem like unintentional foreshadowing of Vin playing a Marvel character. However, it doesn't foresee him playing ''[[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy someone else]]'', or that he'd only do so as a voice over.

** Black Panther himself is a contentious character. He is loved by his many fans as an unabashedly skilled black superhero who has enormous political influence even outside of his superhero career. However, there almost as many fans who find him problematic for one or more reasons. Some state that he is too "Africa-focused", with his entire character revolving around Wakanda, to really resonate with the African-American readership he is intended for. Others complain that the character is a classic example of "racist by being a FlawlessToken", being portrayed as perfect out of fears of perceived racism that the result makes him equally racist.
** Wakanda is, similarly, subject to both abject praise by fans who love its strong AfroFuturism theme and the fact it has never been conquered in its history, and to derision on grounds of FlawlessToken, perceived racism, or its status as a MarySuetopia.

* PanderingToTheBase: [[spoiler: With the much hyped post-''[[ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen AvX]]'' merger featuring more ComicBook/XMen characters joining various ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' team, the reason given for the upcoming dissolution of the Black Panther-Storm marriage (not being able to feature the two characters in the same book) comes off as FalseDichotomy. Fans have emerged on both sides of the issue, some vocal ones that never warmed to the relationship favoring the break and others that feel that the relationship never got the chance to be handled properly.]]

* CanonDiscontinuity: The Everett Ross of Christopher Priest's run is a career bureaucrat who's constantly in over his head who's very good within his specific fields of endeavor and at an utter loss at any other time. In his brief appearances in Hudlin's run, he's a standard-issue stoic government agent. The MCU version thereof is basically the latter up until the ''Black Panther'' solo movie, whereupon he suddenly obtains some of the elements of Priest's version.

* OlderThanTheyThink: The comic book character actually preceded the similarly-named real-world African-American militant group, and wasn't, as many later fans think, named in reference to it.
* PanderingToTheBase: [[spoiler: With the much hyped post-''[[ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen AvX]]'' merger featuring more ComicBook/XMen characters joining various ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' team, the reason given for the upcoming dissolution of the Black Panther-Storm marriage (not being able to feature the two characters in the same book) comes off as FalseDichotomy. Fans have emerged on both sides of the issue, some vocal ones that never warmed to the relationship favoring the break and others that feel that the relationship never got the chance to be handled properly.]]

* BadassDecay: Panther has gone from outwitting [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]], [[TheDevil Mephisto]], and pulling off repeated [[GambitRoulette impossibly complex and brilliant schemes]], and going to toe-to-toe with heavy hitters like Namor and [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk the Hulk]] to getting yelled at by Luke Cage for not being as good as Daredevil. Al Ewing seems to be working to correct this, though. Six issues into ''The Ultimates'', and Panther's already dealt with little things like "Galactus" and "How do you get outside of time and space?" without blinking.

** Black Panther himself is a contentious character. He is loved by his many fans as an unabashedly skilled black superhero who has enormous political influence even outside of his superhero career. However, there almost as many fans who find him problematic for one or more reasons. Some state that he is too "Africa-focused", with his entire character revolving around Wakanda, to really resonate with the African-American readership he is intended for. Others complain that the character is a classic example of "racist by PositiveDiscrimination", being portrayed as perfect out of fears of perceived racism that the result makes him equally racist.
** Wakanda is, similarly, subject to both abject praise by fans who love its strong AfroFuturism theme and the fact it has never been conquered in its history, and to derision on grounds of PositiveDiscrimination, perceived racism, or its status as a MarySuetopia.

** Some people *really, really hate* Reginald Hudlin's run on the comic, finding the T'Challa/Storm marriage forced and seeing Hudlin portraying Wakanda as [[MarySuetopia too perfect]]. Some people love it for the Panther/Storm marriage, cool victories for T'Challa, external villains instead of the endless Wakandan coups and civil wars of the McGregor/Priest years, and a light-hearted, fun tone.

** Some people *really, really hate* Reginald Hudlin's run on the comic. It embraces a lot of unfortunate tropes that Priest's run was careful to dodge, such as Wakanda as a "MarySuetopia." Some people love it for the Panther/Storm marriage, cool victories for T'Challa, external villains instead of the endless Wakandan coups and civil wars of the McGregor/Priest years, and a light-hearted, fun tone.

* StrangledByTheRedString: T'Challa and Storm, in one of the most brutal stranglings in mainstream comics. Made worse and/or hilarious by the fact that Storm was a (heavily implied) bisexual under Claremont, only none of her other writers twigged to it. Hudlin basically built the marriage out of a two-issue cameo from Priest's run where their "romance" was treated as an unrealistic-but-cathartic childhood fantasy that would never actually work in any real way, and included Storm explicitly comparing Panther to ComicBook/{{Magneto}}. Writers of both characters largely ignored the marriage for exactly that reason and eventually [[spoiler: the marriage was ended during ''Avengers Vs. X-Men''.]]

** Most of Hudlin's run, but ''especially'' "Doomwar".

%%* EarWorm: The animated series' theme song.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Many believed that [[spoiler:the death of Shuri acted as [[StuffedIntoTheFridge emotional angst]] for T'Challa instead of any real conclusion to her role as Black Panther in the "End Times" storyline]]. The 2016 comic corrects this by [[spoiler: following Shuri's adventures in Djali, the plane of ancestral memory.]]