Black Panther’s Brother Hunter Returns To Marvel Comics

Warning: contains spoilers for Black Panther Legends #1!

Marvel’s Black Panther franchise is known for having plenty of supporting characters that are loved by fans, but one of T’Challa’s lesser-known allies has reappeared in Marvel Comics: his white half brother Hunter. The character has an interesting history with the Marvel Cinematic Universe in that the hero’s title – the White Wolf – made the transition from page to screen, but not necessarily the hero himself. But in Black Panther Legends #1, written by Tochi Onyebuchi with art by Paris Allleyne and colors by Setor Fiadzigbey, Marvel revisits T’Challa’s relationship with Hunter.

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In Black Panther history, Hunter was raised alongside T’Challa in the royal city in Wakanda after his parents perished in a plane crash in the neighboring Republic of Mohanda. As one of the very few Caucasian people even allowed to visit Wakanda, let alone live in it, Hunter wasn’t always accepted by the citizens – but he was always welcomed by T’Challa and the royal family. However, he harbored a slight resentment toward the family, as he knew he would never be chosen to take the throne over T’Challa (much like Loki.

In Black Panther Legends, Marvel retells the story of a diplomatic trip to South Africa by King T’Chaka, who takes both T’Challa and Hunter along. The group see for themselves the divide between races – Hunter must stand isolated in a “Europeans Only” line while the rest of the delegation queue next to him. T’Challa learns that his grandmother was one of the many anti-apartheid revolutionaries in South Africa at the time, which inspires him to defend a child beset by bullies in the streets. Hunter fights with him – and the two are naturally scolded by their parents after – but Hunter immediately realizes the difference between himself and his brother.

“I was jealous of T’Challa,” Hunter admits to the queen, his adoptive mother. When T’Challa rose to the challenge and defended the target of the bullies, Hunter felt like he was only defending T’Challa. While he fully admits that T’Challa deserves to be the Black Panther and the next King of Wakanda, he can’t help feeling that as soon as T’Challa was born “…I lost the chance to prove myself.” It’s a surprisingly mature realization from someone as young as Hunter, who would go on to become the White Wolf much later in life.

Unfortunately, Hunter’s desire to prove himself manifested in a desire to upstage T’Challa in any way, even after his brother became king. The White Wolf would later become a member of the Wakandan secret police, then a mercenary, and finally an enemy of T’Challa and an exile from Wakanda. Unfortunately, since Hunter and the Black Panther’s bond went back years in the comics, the White Wolf is nearly impossible to adapt in the MCU (which is perhaps the reason why Bucky Barnes is the new holder of the title).

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