MYTHICITY: *good*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *cosmological, psychological, sociological*
I've made no secret on this blog of my low opinion of the two live-action BLACK PANTHER movies from the MCU. The MCU's ultraliberal agenda was a major betrayal of both the seminal Marvel comics character and two high-quality comics-runs that established the character's sophisticated (for a superhero) appeal. I certainly never thought that around the same time as the first BLACK PANTHER movie, a cartoon teleseries in its last season could outdo the showier live-action effort.
When AVENGERS ASSEMBLE debuted in 2013, it replaced a previous AVENGERS series I'd been enjoying, the 2010-2012 AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES. By comparison I found the first two seasons of ASSEMBLE superficial and repetitive. However, as I've noted in my reviews of Season Three and Four, there was some improvement once the previous showrunners, the triumvirate called "Man of Action," departed. But both the short tales and long arcs of those seasons were just fair at best. Strangely, the last season of ASSEMBLE does a much better job than the "mainstream" MCU at translating the best aspects of the Black Panther mythology into a new format. I'm sure the decision to de-emphasize the other Avengers during Season Five in favor of the Panther was made for business reasons: Disney wanted publicity for the 2018 PANTHER movie, so the ASSEMBLE teleseries was drafted for that purpose. But the movies bastardized the two great comics-runs of the Wakandan king-- the 1970s Don McGregor run, which first built up the internal world of Wakanda, and the 1990s Priest run, which showed the Panther taking Wakanda politics onto the international stage. The final ASSEMBLE season gives King T'Challa his best treatment outside comics, so much so that, unlike my reviews of the other seasons, I'll show my appreciation by breaking down each of the 23 episodes.
SHADOW OF ATLANTIS-- This two-parter is more focused than later episodes on showing T'Challa's activities with the New York-based Avengers. Nevertheless, the writers elaborated an aspect of the comics-Panther that later appeared in the 2022 live-action film: conflicts between Wakanda and the subsea kingdom of Atlantis. The original King of Atlantis, Namor the Sub-Mariner, never appears in the TV show, but earlier seasons substituted Namor's sparring-partner Attuma in his place, and here another Sub-Mariner villain, Tiger Shark, gives T'Challa a Namor-like opponent. An Atlantean contingent under Tiger Shark's command attacks New York, but the heroes learn that this is a rogue mission, serving not Attuma's Atlantis, but a mysterious conspiracy, the Shadow Council. The Panther is blamed by the US government for fomenting diplomatic tensions with the subsea kingdom, and so King T'Challa resigns from the Avengers. Captain America, who has a spiritual bond with the Wakandan king, promises to lend him aid whenever possible, but T'Challa not infrequently butts heads with Iron Man, which was a major feature of the Priest run. The Panther had appeared in earlier seasons, but in Season Five, the writers get a better lock on his character: an unflinchingly moral aristocrat whose occasional stubbornness is pointed out by his annoying kid-sister Shuri (who plays a similar role in the 2018 movie).
INTO THE DEEP-- Attuma takes Tiger Shark into Atlantean custody, but Panther needs to interview the villain despite Attuma's opposition. With Shuri's help, T'Challa infiltrates Atlantis, and learns from Tiger Shark that the organization he works for is a new iteration of a villain-group that included the original WWII Baron Zemo, a group defeated by Captain America and T'Challa's grandfather. The episode also introduced the McGregor "Big Bad" Killmonger, though here he's just a Wakandan diplomat secretly allied with the Council.
THE PANTHER AND THE WOLF-- Panther and Shuri return to Wakanda, looking for more intel on a relic, the Key of Wakanda, being sought by the Council. They encounter the Dora Milaje, the king's warrior maidens, and The White Wolf, a Caucasian adopted by the father of T'Challa and Shuri and thus raised beside them as a de facto brother. White Wolf is the opposite of the Panther, being more of a scofflaw, though he has the intelligence they want on the Council. But another Council pawn, the super-strong M'Baku, interferes. (In the comics, he dresses up like a gorilla, but this imagery is elided in the cartoon.)
THE ZEMO SANCTION-- Hoping to learn more about the Council's plans, Panther seeks out the modern-day Baron Zemo, son of Captain America's WWII enemy. To I'Challa's surprise, Zemo II renounces his father's ways, and the two men find some common ground re: domineering fathers. But the Council frees Tiger Shark and sends him to wipe out all intel on the Key of Wakanda. This version of Zemo owes more to the Marvel Comics version than the one that appeared in the MCU.
MISTS OF ATTILAN-- Panther learns that one piece of the Key was given, by T'Challa's father, to the Inhumans in their floating city. He invites former fellow Avenger Ms. Marvel to go along with him when he petitions to Black Bolt and Medusa for the artifact's return. The bubbly teen hero finds out that the reason the king invited her is that she's part Inhuman, and that helps T'Challa in his attempt to burgle the object when he's refused custody. However, once again the Council sends a pawn to steal the Panther's prize. This time it's Princess Zanda, a 1970s Jack Kirby character now endowed with shape-changing powers. After Zanda is driven away, the Inhumans agree that their security is unable to protect the artifact, and the Panther gets his treasure.
T'CHALLA ROYALE-- Zemo II becomes a Wakandan house guest as he seeks to decipher the files of his father for intel, but the Council hacks Wakanda's computers. For good measure they send another assassin, Kraven the Hunter, apparently a take on the comics character courtesy of a contemporary SPIDER-MAN cartoon.
THE NIGHT HAS WINGS-- This minor story feels indebted to dozens of old jungle-tales about Europeans manipulating the superstitions of African natives. Here tribespeople are being attacked by what some believe to be traditional boogeymen, but the monsters are giant bats created by Ulysses Klaw. After Panther defeats the villain, the hero leaves Klaw to die at the claws of his bats. However, Klaw survives and appears again, serving Killmonger and the Council.
MASK OF THE PANTHER-- Captain America escorts the Panther to a SHIELD installation to investigate a derelict ship from which, as I recall, the heroes cull the last piece of the Key. Along for the ride are the Avenger Hawkeye, and the former criminal scientist Whitney Frost, now working for the good guys. However, when the quarter investigate the derelict, automated defenses threaten them. Frost tries to control the ship by interfacing with it through a masklike apparatus. The interface drives her nuts, so that she starts calling herself Madame Masque (as in the comics) and makes common cause with Killmonger.
THE GOOD SON-- When Captain America visits Shuri and the Panther in Wakanda, he's attacked by the White Wolf, who believes all outsiders are threats to Wakanda security. The captain is somewhat torqued to learn that Panther is sheltering Zemo II, so almost no one in this episode trusts anyone else. Panther and Wolf end up having a big battle that works out many of their old grievances.
THE LOST TEMPLE-- Panther, Shuri, Captain America and Zemo II learn that the purpose of the Key is to allow access to a hidden temple, which in turn grants one access to a unique artifact, the Crown. Once they enter the temple, it proves to be a disguised spaceship that transports them to the moon's far side, where they find the Crown-- but also four Council villains: Killmonger, Tiger Shark, Klaw, and Madame Masque. The battle of heroes and villains is interrupted when their ship is about the crash-land in New York, and only Masque's interface-talents can save them.
DESCENT OF THE SHADOW-- Though Masque and Klaw are neutralized, the Crown goes missing, so now the heroes must fight Tiger Shark, Killmonger, and Zanda for the prize. Thanks to the crashed ship, Thor and Iron Man make the scene and add to the chaos. Zemo II is first to access the Crown, only to find that the power it bestows has a deleterious effect on the mind. During the battle with Zemo, Captain America appears to be destroyed.
THE LAST AVENGER-- Black Widow tells her fellows that the Panther caused the Captain's death, but T'Challa can't take time with explanations. He and Shuri have to get the dangerous Crown back to the land of Wakanda, where the presence of ample vibranium will neutralize its ill effects. To do this, T'Challa must fight his way through his old friends, and though he reaches his goal, the battles, for once, aren't just shrugged off. T'Challa resents the Avengers' opposition as much as they resent his, and he closes Wakanda off from contact with the rest of the world.
THE VIBRANIUM CURTAIN-- In this two-parter-- whose title references the "Iron Curtain"-- the whole world believes the accusations against Panther, and all countries, even Atlantis, resolve to arrest him if he appears outside his borders. But T'Challa needs more intel from the captive Klaw, so he sneaks into the US. After Panther's taken down Iron Man and Thor, it's satisfying to see him given a hard time by Ant-Man. He again defeats Iron Man, but the hero unleashes the Winter Soldier on him (though they lack the connection seen in the MCU). Panther's defeated and imprisoned, but this is the way he manages to meet and interrogate Klaw. The villain reveals that Killmonger seeks something called "The Heart of Wakanda," and can help Panther find it in exchange for Klaw's freedom. Both Spider-Man and his enemy the Vulture guest-star, but not to very good effect.
T'CHANDA-- Panther and Shuri take Klaw to an ancient crypt, where Klaw says that Killmonger planned to use the Crown to cull secrets from one of the Wakandan ancestors. A mind-contact lets T'Challa re-experience the events when his grandfather allied himself to Captain America and Peggy Carter to prevent an early version of the Council, who have sent Hydra troops into Wakanda. Both the first Zemo and Arnim Zola make appearances.
YEMANDI-- Not having enough info from the first gleaning, T'Challa taps into the memories of another late ancestor, the warrior queen Yemandi. She has an arena-fight with a young version of the Mighty Thor, and then the two of them team up to look for Thor's hammer. This is the weakest episode of the season, which doesn't substantially affect the main plot, and an appearance by Marvel's version of Morgan Le Fay doesn't improve things.
BASHENGA-- The third and last "adventure with the ancestors" has the Panther experience contact with Wakanda's first king Bashenga. Panther sees Bashenga and his twin sister Bask when the two are both warriors of the Panther Cult, battling the incursions of Atlantean raiders. They find the meteoric mineral from which the Crown was made, and Bask's exposure to its power pushes her into insanity. After concluding this mental traveling, Panther makes two more discoveries: Bask has been cryogenically preserved in the crypt, and Captain America is still alive.
KING BREAKER, Parts 1-2- No big surprise: the Black Widow who accused T'Challa of murdering Cap is actually the shape-changer Zanda. Panther, allied with White Wolf, infiltrates Atlantis to prevent Zanda from fomenting war between the marine city and the surface world. Zanda is buried by falling debris, but when Panther and Wolf seek to succor Attuma, he picks a fight with them. The Atlantean king finally gets over his Namor fit of pique, but Killmonger frees himself from confinement. Not long after T'Challa, Iron Man and Hawkeye save Attuma, he's killed but his rational daughter takes power, preventing the Council's attempt to generate world war. Killmonger faces off against Wolf and Panther. Defeated, the heroes need to escape with the villain to find out Black Widow's location, and this pisses off Attuma's daughter moments after she pledged her indebtedness. One of Sub-Mariner's old enemies, Orka, pops up in a support-role.
WIDOWMAKER-- Panther, Cap and Iron Man search for the Widow in one of Killmonger's hideaways. The heroes are attacked by plant monsters of the Council, but the rescuers are rescued by Black Widow, who's coincidentally broken free just in the nick of time. Then the villains of the Council assemble, including the newly revived Bask. She dons the super-power Crown and seeks dominion of Wakanda. So maybe she's "The Heart of Wakanda?" She then takes the place of Killmonger in the 2018 movie-- which had debuted in February 2018, a full year before the series wound to an end-- in that super-powered Bask engages Panther in trial by combat. She's not a great villain but at least she's a negative girlboss, something one never saw in the live-action MCU.
ATLANTIS ATTACKS-- Panther is rescued from Bask by White Wolf. Bask prepares to attack the surface nations, but Queen Elanna attacks Wakanda. Panther tells Wolf that, having been defeated, he can't challenge Bask, but that Shuri, the only other person with a royal bloodline, can do so. Instead of fighting, Shuri flips Bask against Killmonger, resulting in another throw-down where Panther and Wolf take on Killmonger's forces. Then T'Challa has to fight the invading Elanna too. Bask dies but pronounces Shuri queen and tells Panther that he alone can save the day by donning the Crown. He does so, but he can't prevent White Wolf's death.
HOUSE OF M-- After sidelining the Avengers for the last half-dozen episodes, the heroes make their return, in an episode named for a comics-storyline centering on the X-Men. Somehow Thor has suffered, in between his last episode and this one, the loss of an eye seen in one MCU movie. Panther joins the team while they're mopping a bunch of old enemies allied to the Skull, belatedly bringing back the loose Hydra connection. But just to emphasize Panther's arc a bit more, he joins the other heroes while tracking down one escapee from the Wakandan imbroglio, Madame Masque. The final ASSEMBLE episode is mostly a long fight-scene that doesn't play into the geopolitical themes of the season, but it doesn't cancel out all the stronger story-arcs.
Though the final episodes of Season Five seek to shoehorn too many incidents into the mix, BLACK PANTHER'S QUEST is still much more mature than the grievance-happy liberalism of the live-action movies.
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