Warning! Spoilers ahead for Black Panther #1
In Marvel Comics' new Black Panther series, King T'Challa has an incredibly dark secret that may make him worse than the MCU's Killmonger. While the cousin of the Black Panther intended to wage open war with the nations of the world once he took Wakanda's throne, the secret contingencies of Marvel Comics' T'Challa appear to be far darker due to the paranoia he's chosen to pass off as strategic leadership.
In the new Black Panther #1 from John Ridley and Juann Cabal, T'Challa is still getting used to Wakanda's new form of government. Rather than serving as his nation's sole ruler, Wakanda now has its own democracy having been transformed into a parliamentary government. However, a dark secret involving a decision T'Challa made as Wakanda's king in the past is in danger of becoming exposed.
In this first issue, it's revealed that the Black Panther has a secret network of ten Wakandan black-ops agents stationed all over the world as sleeper agents. All believed to be dead, no one knew they existed aside from T'Challa himself. However, a new threat has emerged that has discovered their existence, and one agent has already been terminated. Meant to be activated in extreme events such as Wakanda being at risk from a rival nation, the Black Panther would activate his secret assassins to engage in guerrilla warfare. Clearly, it's a secret Black Panther would like to keep buried, though he's now forced to confess to his sister Shuri to help him keep the crisis contained.
Naturally, Shuri is appalled by what T'Challa has done, and it's not hard to see why. Not only is his network of black-ops agents morally questionable and made from a place of paranoia and distrust, but T'Challa also created his secret team when he had more power as Wakanda's sole ruler. Should this dark secret become exposed now that Wakanda has shifted its government and leadership, it's doubtful things would go over well for T'Challa personally, not to mention how it would affect the Black Panther's relationship with the Avengers and Wakanda's relations with other nations.
While Killmonger had similar plans in the MCU's Black Panther, he still had to rally Wakanda's forces and arm any spies they had located all over the world. In T'Challa's case, he's apparently had his assassins armed and ready to be used with deadly precision for years should the need arise. While he makes his justifications that he did what he thought was right for his nation, it's clear that this is one of the darkest things Black Panther has ever done to protect his people.