Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: black panther, krakoa, storm, Wakanda, x-men

The Black Panther Finally Explains Why He Divorced Storm (Spoilers)

Published Wed, 01 Jun 2022 07:07:11 -0500

Once upon a time, T'Challa, The Black Panther married Ororo Monroe, Storm. A king marrying a goddess. It was quite an event, even if it seemed to come out of the blue.

Which necessitated some newly revealed history between the pair when they were young.

So that the Plot Gods of the Marvel Universe were satisfied. Or at least semi-satisfied.

And the marriage went ahead, with maximum Marvel media publicity.

And it all went down as well as could be expected. Ororo moved to Wakanda and co-starred in the Black Panther comic, only returning occasionally to the X-Men.

But then the Avengers Vs X-Men series came along and the Phoenix-empowered Namor did this:

Deprived of justice against Namor by the X-Men, the Black Panther did the next best thing. He declared the X-Men as the enemies of Wakanda, and that included his wife.

And just like that one of Marvel's most prominent married couples, Storm and Black Panther, are no longer married. Their union declared annulled by royal decree. However, after events had calmed down, they remained friends.

Yeah, Storm was dating Wolverine. And that was totally a thing. Wakanda and Krakoa have been at odds.

Wakanda didn't sign up to the initial Krakaon diplomatic protocols over medical aid, declaring that Wakanda was in no need of mutant drugs. Wakanda embedded Krakoan sleeper agents into the X-Men. And yes, there was the X Of Swords conflict that saw Storm steal a weapon and Wakanda burn its Krakoan gateway. But now with T'Challa out of sorts with Wakanda himself, there is an uneasy truce again. Which gives T'Challa the chance to explain the annulment in new terms.

That may be the fastest switch from "It's not you, it's me" to "it's not me, it's you" within just one page. Wasn't the entire point of the marriage a political union of power bases in the world? Still, an explanation is at least… an explanation.

BLACK PANTHER #6
MARVEL COMICS
MAR221042
(W) John Ridley (A) Stefano Landini (CA) Alex Ross
Betrayal! The reveal of T'Challa's darkest secret has the Hatut Zeraze hunting him as a traitor, with orders to kill him on sight. He needs to escape them to clear his name, but are his skills really on par for the challenge? And are Wakanda's secret police the only force T'Challa has to reckon with for his lies?
RATED T+In Shops: Jun 01, 2022
SRP: $3.99

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