WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Black Panther #24, by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Daniel Acuna & VC's Joe Sabino, on sale now.
Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates' work on Black Panther is coming to an end, and, if Black Panther #24 is any indication, his run will conclude in an all-out war that is very reminiscent of the final battle in Avengers: Endgame.
N'Jadaka, the leader of the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, is leading a seemingly non-stop invasion of Wakanda. In his cosmic conquests, however, he's forgotten about the Originators, the original gods of Wakanda who were forced into the stars by early humans. Now, the Originators have accepted Wakanda's request for help in a moment that calls Engdame's iconic battle sequence to mind.
The Originators were the first settlers in the land that would become Wakanda. They first appeared in Black Panther #13 by Coates and Wilfredo Torres. After this, different Originators showed up in the next few issues to battle Black Panther and Wakanda until their origin was revealed in Black Panther #167 by Coates and Leonard Kirk.
Recognizing these creatures from the legends of Wakanda, Shuri and T'Challa went into the Djalia to learn about their history from Queen Ramonda. When the first humans entered the land, the Originators welcomed them, and the two lived in peace with one another. However, things changed after a time when the humans began to destroy the land.
The Originators retaliated against the humans but were defeated. This led to the Originators returning generations later to attack Wakanda out of a need for revenge. They were repelled by Black Panther's forces, but have now been invited to return now to aid Wakanda in their fight, being promised a chance for "revenge and redemption" against the forces that initially expelled them from the country in the first place. And as they enter the final battle, they do so in the most dramatic way possible, appearing through portals that are reminiscent of the iconic scene from the final battle in Avengers: Endgame
With Black Panther and Wakanda's war against N'Jadaka's forces now coming to a head, the Originators have gone from being the forgotten and the abandoned to the group most likely to be the deciding factor in the battle to come. And by embracing the civilization their ancestors displaced, Wakanda is facing its demons in a very literal sense with the help of the people they wronged the most.
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