Black Panther is set to be groundbreaking on many levels. It boasts a nearly all Black cast and crew, and it features the story of an African king and superhero. Its presale figures are through the roof, the toys being marketed look spectacular, and the reviews are effusing that Marvel Studios' Black Panther is a win.

Naturally, we don’t know much about the plot at this point, but we are anticipating impressive fight scenes. These fighters clearly won’t be just any fighters, so CBR is taking a look at the fighters of Wakanda to see what their potential roles will be.

The Hate Zeraze

Writer Christopher Priest’s run on the Black Panther comic, which lasted over 4 years and 50 issues, is considered essential reading for Black Panther fans. He is credited for bringing the Black Panther back in an exciting way for the turn of the century. One of the additions he made to Wakanda was the Hatut Zeraze, which translates to “the dogs of war.”

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Hatut Zeraze Priest Black Panther

These War Dogs made their first appearance in Black Panther (Vol. 3) #4 when T’Challa already has his hands full with Achebe, a frequent Black Panther villain, and Mephisto, a frequent Marvel demon. Part of becoming the King is inheriting the Hatut Zeraze, who act as a Wakandan secret police.

The Hatut Zeraze serve at the pleasure of the King. However, T’Challa dismissed them because he doesn’t want murderous assassins to be a part of his government. The War Dogs claim to be loyalists to the throne, but they became mercenaries under the leadership of Hunter, the White Wolf.

The White Wolf Priest Black Panther

Quick story on the White Wolf: He’s white, but he was also raised by T’Chaka after being orphaned by a plane crash. Obviously, before T’Challa’s birth, Hunter had some hopes to become king one day, but instead, T’Chaka appoints him as the leader of the Hatut Zeraze. So, getting dismissed by someone you consider to be like a brother, who’s also the king instead of you, was a blow strong enough for the White Wolf and his War Dogs to become mercenaries.

As of now, it doesn’t seem like the White Wolf nor the War Dogs play a big role in the film. However, Lupita Nyoung’o used an interesting phrase to describe her character in an interview: “Nakia is war dog. She is basically an undercover spy for Wakanda.” This sounds a lot like the Hatut Zeraze to us. This could very well be laying the foundation for the War Dogs to be revealed at some point in this Black Panther film or its sequel.

The Hatut Zeraze would be interesting to include the Black Panther films because they’re such a strong visual antithesis to T’Challa: they dress in all-white and call themselves dogs while T’Challa dresses in all-black and, as we know, a panther is a big cat. The Hatut Zeraze are a part of Wakandan tradition that T’Challa wants to break away from. This is ripe for conflict that would translate well conscreen. A lot of T’Challa’s inner conflict in the comics is finding a balance between honoring the duty he has to his country and its traditions versus wanting to save the world as a superhero.

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The Dora Mijae

The Dora Milaje have gotten a lot of media attention and for good reason: fans are incredibly hyped that there’s an elite all-female fighting squad of Black women in the MCU. The women of Wakanda have been featured in fight scene clips that look spectacular (including an epic wig throw). Like the Hatut Zeraze, the Dora Milaje’s history also began with the Christopher Priest comics, but the film has made some modifications to their backstory.

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Priest added the Dora Milaje, which translates to “The Adored Ones,” in his first issue of Black Panther. Their immediate purpose is to be warriors that protect the king at all costs. Their greater purpose was to quell Wakandan in-fighting.

The Dora Milaje Black Panther film

You see, the Dora Milaje also provided a ceremonial function in that they are potential wives for T’Challa. Because they each come from a different tribe in Wakanda, this keeps the peace for any fighting amongst the tribes. At least until T’Challa declares his intent to actually marry one of them. In the comics, intent to marry can be as little as a kiss, which gets T’Challa into trouble.

In an interview, Black Panther producer Nate Moore stated that it was decided this aspect of the Dora Milaje backstory was “a bit creepy,” so instead the filmmakers focused on the strength of these women. With the success of the Wonder Woman film and its presentation of the Amazons, it makes sense that the MCU committed to going this route.

Like the Amazons, the Dora Milaje also have some featured fighters. Danai Gurira of The Walking Dead fame plays Okoye, one of the original Dora Milaje members who first appeared in Priest’s Black Panther (Vol. 3) #1. Okoye knows that while she fights to protect the king, her potential wife role is merely ceremonial, and she accepts it. It will be interesting to see what additional elements are added to her character in the film with the creep factor removed.

The Dora Milaje Priest Black Panther

Another recognizable name in the Dora Milaje is Ayo, who is played by Florence Kasumba. Ta-Nahesi Coates featured this Dora Milaje member prominently in his run with the Black Panther series, starting with “A Nation Under Our Feet: Part 1.” Ayo rebels against the monarchy because her lover and fellow Dora Milaje member Aneka was about to be put to death. Both Ayo and Aneka renounce the Dora Milaje and the crown and choose to fight for a more representative government.

The updated Dora Milaje can give young girls the inspiration that they can be warriors so strong that they can protect men. They are not only women, but Black women, a group that is already severely underrepresented in the media. This group of woman is a gamechanger in the MCU just like how the film overall is shaping out to be.


Directed by Ryan Coogler from a script he wrote with Joe Robert Cole, Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Daniel Kaluuya as W’Kabi, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross, Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue, Winston Duke as M’Baku and Forest Whitaker as Zuri. The film opens Friday nationwide.