Hot on the heels of Ultimate Invasion #1 and the news that Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto will be publishing Ultimate Spider-Man in Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe, Marvel announced today that a new ongoing Ultimate Black Panther #1 will be released on February 7, 2024. During Marvel’s Next Big Thing panel at New York Comic Con, the publisher announced that “Ultimate Black Panther” will be written by Bryan Hill, with interior art and cover art by Stefano Caselli.
From Marvel’s announcement: “THE NEW ULTIMATE BLACK PANTHER! In the ULTIMATE INVASION, Khonshu and Ra – the force collectively known as the Moon Knight – seek to expand their brutal control across the African continent. In response, the lone bulwark against you, the isolated nation of Wakanda, will send out their champion… their king… the Black Panther! From creative minds Bryan Hill (BLADE, KILLMONGER) and Stefano Caselli (X-MEN RED, AVENGERS) comes a bold new take on the world of Black Panther and Wakanda!”
The ultimate universe is reborn!
In Marvel’s original Ultimate Universe, which ran from 2000 to 2015, the Black Panther was vastly underused, making only a handful of appearances in the pages of works like Ultimate Captain America Annual #1 and Ultimates 3. Given this Ultimate T’Challa was a victim of the Weapon X program, his vocal cords were cut and he couldn’t speak, the less said the better. The early focus on a new Black Panther underscores how quickly the character’s status has grown since 2018’s MCU hit, and is a very positive sign that Marvel wants to use the new Ultimate Universe to incorporate more modern sensibilities, diverse perspectives and an…updated understanding of the “world outside your window.”
Of course, no prize for all readers who notice. Marvel doesn’t specify whether this Black Panther will be T’Challa (or another well-known character). Much like the announcement of Ultimate Spider-Man, which avoided the names Peter Parker or Miles Morales, there is uncertainty about who will sit on the throne of Wakanda. Likewise, in the pages of Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch in “Ultimate Invasion”, a creator-recreated map of the Ultimate Universe revealed that a small portion of Africa was designated as an “undiscovered area”. Given the absence of Wakanda elsewhere on the map, it’s likely that this new Ultimate Black Panther will coincide with the rise of Wakanda in this new world, giving the creative team a real chance to start fresh.
In both cases, the announced three upcoming Ultimate Universe titles (Ultimate Twenty-four years later, the Ultimate Universe is ready to live again.
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