Marvel’s new limited series, Marvel Knights: The World to Come, has sparked controversy with the introduction of Ketema, a young man revealed to be the son of T’Challa and the next Black Panther. The story is set 25 years into Marvel’s future and introduces us to the new Black Panther, who is supposed to lead the Wakandan people to peace and prosperity. While that isn’t anything to write home about and not really controversial, the choice of who’s under the mask most certainly is because Marvel had decided to make the next Black Panther white.
Yes, you read that right. The World to Come #1 marks the debut of T’Challa’s son, Ketema, the successor to the mantle of the Black Panther. The first issue shows an aging T’Challa participating in the tribal combat challenge for Wakanda’s leadership, similar to the one seen in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther movie. However, as gleaned from the pages of the comic book, this seems to be one fight T’Challa does want to win. Following T’Challa’s defeat at the hands of a younger opponent, the challenger removes his mark to reveal someone much whiter, much to the surprise of many fans.
This unexpected twist has prompted confusion and debate around representation, legacy, and the creative direction of Wakanda’s future, and for good reason, as this introduction reignites the discourse about how Marvel handles race, legacy characters, and the limits of creative liberty in long-established franchises. So, let’s discuss what this means for Black Panther as a character and as a franchise within the Marvel Comics Universe. To begin, let’s discuss Ketema and how a white youth came to call T’Challa his father.
It’s important to note that this six-issue miniseries most likely falls outside of Marvel’s main continuity. The first issue covers a lot of ground, opening with a tribal challenge scene set eight years before the main events of the series. In this flashback, we learn that T’Challa married Storm, though the two eventually divorced. Storm is later said to have died in a conflict referred to only as the Race War, though the comic provides no further context or explanation for the term. Following her death, T’Challa seeks to secure an heir and rekindles his relationship with his former fiancée, Monica Lynne.
Monica leaves her partner at the time to become T’Challa’s queen and is later shown to be pregnant with a son. If Monica Lynne had been white, the child’s lighter complexion might have gone unquestioned. But she is a Black woman, and her former partner was a white man. This suggests that she was already pregnant when she reunited with T’Challa, which explains Ketema’s appearance and clarifies that he is not T’Challa’s biological son. While the comic doesn’t state this outright, the clues are there for readers to piece together.
The story then cuts back to the duel at hand, with T’Challa gaining the upper hand and seemingly defeating Ketema, insisting that the challenge is over. However, one of the clerics, named “M,” declares that the challenge isn’t finished and that T’Challa can’t be king as long as his challenger still draws breath. M then asks Ketema whether he yields, and the latter responds that he does not, to no surprise. Ketema then goes on to reveal his resentment for T’Challa, revealing that he was raised by the clerics and that T’Challa only used him as his pawn in his war against the clerical administration.
The fight resumes with Ketema accusing T’Challa of being an unworthy father and a liar, while T’Challa tries to explain that the clerics have misled him with lies. Despite T’Challa’s efforts, Ketema defeats him and declares Wakanda his own. Although his claim is based on tradition, his rise to power unsettles many. This is not only because of his mixed heritage but also because T’Challa had previously turned Wakanda over to its people as a democracy. For many, Ketema is not the leader they chose and not the one they want.
Writer Christopher Priest clarified that the story in The World to Come exists in a possible future timeline, which still isn’t a part of Marvel Comics’ main continuity. Still, the decision to depict a white man as the heir to the Black Panther mantle, especially in a story centered on lineage and Wakandan identity, has left fans divided. And this isn’t the only controversial depiction of the Black Panther by Priest. His previous depiction of the character will forever remain remembered as a monarch first and a hero second, as T’Challa often prioritized the safety and preservation of his country.
While the comic doesn’t directly explain why T’Challa chose not to raise Ketema as his own, the suggestion is that their estranged relationship and emotional distance were shaped by fears over how Ketema’s origins would be perceived by the public. The narrative also clearly explores religious corruption, with Cleric M exploiting his authority to manipulate Ketema and consolidate his own power.
The idea that Marvel is intentionally leaning into a meme by making Ketema resemble Ryan Gosling is certainly amusing. But given the larger context, his appearance may also serve as a way to explore deeper themes, such as the complexities of race, identity, and what it means to belong when you don’t look like those around you. Of course, it’s also entirely possible that Marvel made Ketema look like Gosling just for kicks.