Warning: Spoilers for Marvel Knights: The World to Come #1Marvel has just introduced the successor to Black Panther as Ketema, the future son of T'Challa. The revelation has arrived in Marvel Knights: The World to Come leaping 25 years into Marvel's future, where a new leader to the Wakandan people blossoms the era anew, but the choice of who is under the mask may be enough to produce controversy in-universe, and for real fans.

Marvel Knights: The World to Come #1 marks the debut of Ketema, the Black Panther's son. With the story depicting an aging T'Challa taking part in the tribal combat challenge for Wakanda's leadership (as seen in the Black Panther films), it's clear this is one fight he does not wish to win. Revealing that this fighter is Ketema, T'Challa's son, he is nevertheless defeated by the younger man, who then removes his mask to reveal someone of a much whiter, blonder complexion than most readers will expect.

The fight is anything but 'fair' or fatal, and it's clear from the first issue that this defeat will mean more trouble for Wakanda's future, not less. Nonetheless, T'Challa is beaten, with Ketema declaring himself the new ruler of Wakanda to the assembled priests and istration of the nation. And with rumors of the MCU searching for a new Black Panther, this story will give 'T'Challa's son taking over' a whole new meaning.

The Black Panther of Marvel's Future is T'Challa's Son

Marvel Knights: The World to Come #1 by Joe Quesada, Christopher Priest, Richard Isanove, Richard Starkings

Marvel Knights: The World to Come #1 takes a look back through time in the past, present, and future of the Black Panther mantle, and keeps many of its storylines and coming twists on Marvel canon close to its chest. But the story is built around this fight scene, set 8 years before 'The World to Come' is apparently born. And it is abundantly clear that whatever else the story has to reveal, a tormented father/son relationship is in place: Ketema constantly berates and disrespects T'Challa, calling him "an unworthy father" and a "liar."

Having turned the country of Wakanda over to its people as a true democracy by this point, T'Challa suggests the highest-ranking priests have warped his son's beliefs, filling his head with lies. But T'Challa's push for a non-violent end to the challenge leaves him wide open for what turns into a beating from his son. As the fight is interspersed with flashbacks to the past, revealing T'Challa's romance and fathering of a child with Black jazz singer and former flame Monica Lynne. Making it all the more shocking when the new Black Panther unmasks to have blond hair and blue eyes.

Black Panther's Son Takes The Title, But is He Truly A Villain?

Ketema Earns the Throne By Beating T'Challa, But The People Aren't Exactly Happy

Surrounding this scene, the representatives of Wakanda's people (particularly T'Challa's high priest, "M") appear less than pleased about the scene, with the non-fatal battle only complicating this shocking rivalry. If T'Challa's son challenged him for the role of Black Panther, the democratic nature of Wakanda makes his placement as monarch questionable. But with the hero's ethnicity, and Blackness itself, inherently tied to the Black Panther franchise, the revelation that Ketema is acting villainously, and is blond haired and blue eyed, means controversy is guaranteed.

Having a white man under the Black Panther mask obviously won't sit right with many readers, and it would seem that is exactly Marvel's intention. Even without hints that Ketema's actions cause shockwaves through the future, his heinous actions should be enough to make people uncomfortable. The fact that the character is seemingly a Caucasion son of two Black parents only raises more questions. So the question now becomes, will the arrival of T'Challa's son mean a new king, or a new villain? Time will tell.

Marvel Knights: The World to Come #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.