For decades, Marvel's Black Panther has largely spent his time on Earth, and much of that time in his home country of Wakanda. In recent years, however, the character has taken on a bigger role in Marvel's cosmic events; he was part of the New Avengers during Thanos' invasion in Infinity, and was a member of the Illuminati and aided in their efforts to stop Dr. Doom's control of the multiverse in Secret Wars. Then, he personally aided in dealing with lingering cosmic threats, and found himself caught up in a war that decided the fate of all realities.

For his next act of cosmic greatness, the King of Wakanda is taking his people to the stars with the first story arc of his rebooted solo comic beginning in May.

Written again by Ta-Nehisi Coates and this time drawn by Daniel Acuña, the book will focus on the building of the Intergalactic Empire of Wakandan. As T'Challa says, that rocket will "drag mankind to the stars on the back of Wakandan science." Last year with the Marvel Legacy one-shot, we finally got to see the fruits of Wakanda's labor in the form of the planet Bast, thriving in Wakandan glory.

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As this book opens, readers and T'Challa will both learn about the Wakandan Empire that has made a foothold in the galaxy of another universe. The Black Panther's homeland expanding its reach into space has always been something of a natural eventuality. After all, if they're a secretive nation with advanced technology ahead of modern civilization, why wouldn't they expand their greatness as the rest of the human race is just making eyes at the moon? Taking the Black Panther to space allows for Coates to present his own spin on science fiction and space opera adventures, and it's a spin the genre sorely needs.

Black Panther Marvel Comics Relaunch

Sci-fi as a genre has been around for decades, but it's also largely been overly white. That's both a criticism and a cold, hard fact of the matter; the majority of famous sci-fi properties such as Star Wars, Mass Effect and Blade Runner have all had white creators behind the wheel. As a result, a lot of subsequent works can't help but feel like they're copying off each other. Star Wars in particular has had nothing but white men driving its films and TV shows, and the lack of diversity on that creative front is showing.

That isn't to say there's a complete lack of sci-fi stories told by POC creators, as Nnedi Okoafor and Octavia Butler's books have shown us, but on the whole, space opera stories have by and large come from the same well of creators with the same beats that all entails. Having diverse voices is important; as Marvel Studios has learned, having people of color at the hands of a story can be what makes a difference between having an M'Baku and having an Ancient One.

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Thanks to Rise of the Black Panther, we know that the Intergalactic Empire has been a dream the Royal Family of Wakanda has wanted for decades. T'Challa's late mother, N'Yami, always had dreams of future generations exploring the galaxy in secret while Russia and America were having their feud over who would land on the moon first. Those plans were just waylaid by attacks from Baron von Strucker and Ulysses Klaw. T'Challa himself has been quite busy on his home turf, dealing with an insurgent uprising and the disappearance of the Wakandan gods. Though the latter threat is still in progress of being dealt with, that threat in and of itself theoretically puts him--or rather, this alternate version of him--in a perfect position to bring his people to space.

In the middle of the currently running Avengers of the New World arc, T'Challa learns that the original Wakandans were something of colonizers themselves. They offended the people who originally lived in the nation they now call home -- a collection of creatures appropriately called "the Originators." As expected, the original Wakandans won that war and banished the Originators, and the current chaos in Wakanda is vengeance for that war centuries ago. "Did you truly believe that a great nation could be built without another underfoot?" asks a spirit in the form of his stepmother, Ramonda. "The past cannot be undone."

Mavel Legacy Wakanda space Black Panther

Science fiction stories suffer when their premise involves going to another planet and laying claim to it; last year's Mass Effect Andromeda drew criticism for that being its core premise. With Coates at the helm for establishing Wakanda's previously unknown history, this makes the story to come more self aware. T'Challa is clearly disheartened to learn this dark history about his people, and though New World's story has yet to conclude, it's very likely that his mission in expanding Wakanda won't involve the bloodshed that came from his ancestors.

If there's one thing that can be said about Coates' storytelling, it's that he has no problem upending the traditions of Black Panther and Wakanda; without him, it's doubtful another writer would craft a story about fixing the nation's government, or reinvent the Dora Milaje's main soldiers into a duo of queer freedom fighters. In the Marvel Legacy one-shot, we get a look at the aliens of the planet Bast, and judging by the smiles on their faces, it doesn't look like a species whose planet was taken over by force. Whoever is running the Intergalactic Empire may not even be T'Challa, but it's doubtful that this alternate, intergalactic version of him would resort to violence over diplomacy to have an empire in the galaxy.

Black Panther's debut movie has introduced Afrofuturism to a wider audience, and many have said that the world of Wakanda and its technological superior makes the film a "black Star Wars." The new comic will certainly deliver on that front, and in time, it's likely that the movies will as well. So much from the recent comics has already been brought over to the films, and an African odyssey through the galaxy is too good to just leave on the page. As the reception to Star Trek Discovery has shown us, the world is more than ready for the final frontier to include some color in it.

Black Panther's Fresh Start by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Daniel Acuña, will begin on May 23.