Black Panther: The Young Prince

A child named Kantu walks through the jungle of Wakanda when a rhinoceros bursts through the foliage. T’Challa, on its back, yells at Kantu to get out of the way. T’Challa struggles against the beast and reflects on how his death may impact his kingdom and enable Killmonger. He finally kills the rhinoceros, and Monica hugs Kantu until his parents, Karota and M’Jumbak, arrive. Karota looks disdainfully at Monica, unable to trust an outsider.

Back at the palace, Monica sits with T’Challa as his advisor Zatama paces the room and Tanzika, a court handmaiden, serves them. Zatama grows angry at T’Challa and W’Kabi, believing they both become too familiar with violence. Monica tells T’Challa that she feels as though she is a symbol that represents what the Wakandans hate.

M’Jumbak takes a nighttime walk through a graveyard when hands suddenly shoot up from the ground. The Baron Macabre rises and kills M’Jumbak. At the palace, T’Challa comforts Monica when Zatama bursts in and tells T’Challa that W’Kabi wants to torture Venomm. Zatama tells T’Challa that he is losing control of his people. Zatama brings in Karota, who tells T’Challa that M’Jumbak disappeared in a graveyard haunted by Baron Macabre.

T’Challa rushes to the graveyard and finds M’Jumbak’s body. Suddenly, more bodies rise from the ground, and T’Challa comes face to face with Baron Macabre. Baron Macabre shoots fiery blasts at T’Challa that burn him while his minions overwhelm T’Challa and bring him to the Baron. In the palace, Zatama sits and considers how quickly the palace and technology appeared around him as he grew up outside the palace gates. Someone approaches and kills him with a spear.

In the graveyard, Baron Macabre wraps his fingers around T’Challa’s throat. T’Challa escapes from beneath Baron Macabre and flees, vowing to return. T’Challa rushes back to the palace to witness W’Kabi arresting Monica. T’Challa demands to know what happened, and W’Kabi tells him that Zatama is dead, and Monica’s fingerprints are on the spear.

The day after Monica’s arrest, T’Challa sits on the shore of the River of Grace and Wisdom and contemplates his reflection, unsure of who he is. A crocodile sneaks up on him, and T’Challa fights for survival. He and the crocodile roll and struggle, crashing through the water. Taku, T’Challa’s communications officer, arrives and calls to his chieftain. T’Challa frees himself from the crocodile, and Taku pulls him ashore. There, T’Challa tells Taku that he believes Killmonger has an influence on him, but Killmonger would rule selfishly. Taku asks T’Challa if he believes he rules differently.

In Monica’s cell, T’Challa explains to her that he believes she was framed. He does not believe she killed Zatama. Later, T’Challa and W’Kabi argue over Monica. W’Kabi is enraged, questioning T’Challa’s allegiance as T’Challa insists that Monica is innocent. Their argument ends when Karota enters, and T’Challa must tell her of M’Jumbak’s passing. That night, T’Challa returns to the graveyard to retrieve M’Jumbak’s body but is again waylaid by the dead. He fights them off, forcing one to tell him where he can find Baron Macabre. The corpse tells him that there are tunnels under the graves that will lead T’Challa to the Dark Realm, where Baron Macabre and King Cadaver reside.

T’Challa jumps down a grave into a dark tunnel. Lights flash on, momentarily blinding him. T’Challa is surrounded by mirrors, with Baron Macabre and King Cadaver’s reflections everywhere. King Cadaver is hideous, with a bulbous head made of mold, but a soft voice. King Cadaver’s voice pervades T’Challa’s mind. T’Challa wonders how Killmonger could grant such power. T’Challa begins breaking mirrors and finds Baron Macabre. T’Challa defeats him, and when he finds King Cadaver, T’Challa expects his face to be a mask but is horrified to find it is real. T’Challa throws King Cadaver through the final mirror and is stunned to find himself in the computerized weapons depot under central Wakanda. He realizes that Killmonger mined these tunnels to steal the weapons.

T’Challa, W’Kabi, and Taku approach the village of N’Jadaka and send their forces to the village. Though T’Challa lost Baron Macabre and King Cadaver at the mines, information from Taku’s conversations with Venomm is essential in planning this attack. In the village, Tayete and Kazibe are ambushed by T’Challa. Soldiers run out, followed by their leader, Lord Karnaj. A battle ensues, with T’Challa’s men swarming the camp and Karnaj’s soldiers wielding deadly, sonic disruptors. As T’Challa and W’Kabi fight Lord Karnaj, Baron Macabre sneaks up behind W’Kabi, ready to fire his lasers into W’Kabi’s back. T’Challa beats Baron Macabre, saving W’Kabi. W’Kabi is in awe of the Black Panther’s power and tells T’Challa that his actions remind him of the T’Challa he once revered. The two shake hands in renewed friendship.

T’Challa’s mind strays to Monica. Before the battle, Monica insists that she is the embodiment of what the Wakandans fear. T’Challa assures her that he knows she is innocent and will find evidence that proves it. That night, T’Challa stalks the forest, seeking Zatama’s real murderer. Near the river, T’Challa sees Tanzika crouching. Just as she is about to throw a package into the water, T’Challa springs over her and grabs it midair. He reveals that the murder weapon was not a spear, but Monica’s shish kebab stick with an extra segment attached. Tanzika defends herself, saying she had a secret romance with Zatama, but that when he broke it off, she had to do something. T’Challa now has pictures proving their relationship.

Back on the field of battle, Malice appears and fights W’Kabi while T’Challa faces Lord Karnaj. Taku, the most peaceful of T’Challa’s advisors, sees the body of a murdered child, and rage fills him. He attacks Lord Karnaj, beating him while he begs for mercy. T’Challa stops Taku, the battle over, and reminds him of his own words against such violence. As Taku takes the child and walks into the distance, W’Kabi and T’Challa lament seeing this new side of Taku.

T’Challa, Monica, and Taku bring the captured Tayete and Kazibe to the Land of the Chilling Mist, where Killmonger and King Cadaver are heading. T’Challa leaves Monica and Taku, leading Tayete and Kazibe to Killmonger. Ahead of them, Killmonger and King Cadaver trek through the snow to meet Sombre at the Altar of Resurrection. Sombre, the Oracle of the Altar of Resurrection, is a ghastly man with soulless eyes and a mask melded into his face.

Behind the villains, T’Challa, Tayete, and Kazibe encounter a river. T’Challa breaks ice off a glacier and uses it as a bridge. He asks the men where Killmonger is going, and when they tell T’Challa that Killmonger seeks the Altar of Resurrection, T’Challa realizes the enormity of the task ahead: The altar is built over the remains of a fallen star, and above its flames lies King Cadaver. Sombre comments that King Cadaver is not afraid. Killmonger explains that King Cadaver knows he will be stronger after and that initially, he followed Killmonger because, like many others, he was not satisfied with his own life. In central Wakanda, Monica visits Kantu and Karota, though Karota begs Monica to leave, expressing her distrust of her. Monica persists, however, saying that they both understand tragedy and can help each other.

T’Challa calls out to Killmonger and attacks, resuming the fight from three months earlier, when Killmonger threw T’Challa from Warrior Falls. Killmonger seems glad to see T’Challa, claiming it will be a short fight. He quickly overpowers the Black Panther and throws him into the flames. With his quick agility, T’Challa recovers and bounds out of the flames, only to lose consciousness from Sombre’s acidic touch. T’Challa wakes alone in the snow with nothing but a spear, surrounded by wolves. In a brutal fight, he kills wolves as they attack, until the pack leaves. Alone, freezing, and on the brink of death, T’Challa seeks shelter, contemplating the immense task of fighting.