WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Black Panther #25, by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Daniel Acuña, Brian Stelfreeze, Laura Martin & VC’s Joe Sabino, on sale now.
Bast is arguably the most important entity in the Black Panther mythos. Not only is she responsible for bestowing the powers of the Black Panther to her chosen avatars, but she was also responsible for gifting power to the original Black Panther who united the tribes that initially formed the nation of Wakanda. While T’Challa has had interactions with Bast in the past, Black Panther #25 saw his most confrontational interaction yet.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
Tensions started to rise between the Panther God and the King when T’Challa sent a group of explorers to space in search of more vibranium. This group was sucked through a wormhole that sent them 2,000 years in the past. They established their own colony that quickly turned into an empire that spanned five galaxies. As this empire was founded by Wakandans, they held the same traditions and beliefs as the Wakandans of Earth. This led Bast to divert her attention towards the new empire and crown a new champion from their people.
Bast named N’Jadaka as her new champion, but this was not enough for the new Emperor. He believed Bast had betrayed him and used his symbiote to drain power from the god. Bast, without most of her powers, possessed N’Jadaka’s daughter and defected to a Rebellion group where she attempted to rectify her mistake. This led to a large-scale battle on Wakanda on Earth between these two factions. T’Challa came out victorious but he still had unanswered questions for the spiritual guide of his people.
T’Challa questioned why Bast did not interfere when the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda began to build their civilization upon slavery. He felt as though this was a betrayal of his way of life and that Bast should have interfered before it became as extreme as it did. Bast was quick to turn the blame right back on T’Challa stating that he was the one who sent people into space in search of vibranium. After T’Challa defeated N’Jadaka, he inadvertently became the Emperor of a recently discovered empire. With this advancement in rank combined with the blame cast between the two, it now looks like Black Panther is moving past the stage where he needs Bast’s advice.
While it might seem odd that T’Challa would oppose the Panther God that bestowed him his powers, the two have had a multitude of interactions with each other. 1988’s Black Panther #4, by Peter B. Gillis, Denys Cowan, Sam De La Rosa, Bob Sharen and Max Scheele, saw Bast remove Black Panther’s powers from T’Challa and grant them to another man. After T’Challa defeated this man, Bast appeared to him. T’Challa swore that he would dedicate more time to helping his people. This led to Bast restoring T’Challa’s powers. There are many other Marvel heroes that have come face-to-face with the Panther God.
Doctor Doom famously stole all of the vibranium from Wakanda during the events of Doomwar. Doomwar #3, by Jonathan Maberry, Scot Eaton, Andy Lanning, Robert Campanella, Jean-Francois Beaulieu and Cory Petit, saw Doom approach Bast and gain approval to take the vibranium. Storm and Shuri have also both summoned the Panther God on different occasions. Even Mister Fantastic saw and conversed with the Panther God when T’Challa became the King of the Dead in Fantastic Four #608 by Jonathan Hickman, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Karl Kesel, Paul Mounts and Clayton Cowles.
Bast’s appearance also got a brand new touch-up as Black Panther #25 is one of the few instances during this run that Bast appeared without using someone else’s body. This issue saw Bast appear as a female cosmic entity with a spacescape appearing through her hair and body. She also appeared to be wearing more traditional African garb as she is seen sporting neck rings as well as a collar most often associated with ancient Egyptian royalty. Bast’s previous appearances almost always depicted her as a giant white panther.
While T’Challa learns to navigate this new time period in his life, it appears that he will have to do so without the help of the Panther God. Though she has the power to rescind the Black Panther abilities from T’Challa, this has now become too risky, as he has just inherited a giant empire dedicated to the Panther ideologies. It’s unclear if Bast feels guilt for her role in the rise of the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda and the slaves they produced, but T’Challa probably won’t approach her for guidance anytime soon.
About The Author
