Warning: Spoilers for Marvel Comics Heroes Reborn #4!
Marvel Comics' Heroes Reborn #4 pays tribute to a legendary Haitian Maroon leader through the inclusion of a recent addition to the world of Black Panther and Wakanda.
Famed mercenary Rocket Raccoon and his pursuer, the space enforcer Doctor Spectrum's, cosmic battle culminated in the death of the legendary bounty hunter. The closing arc of Heroes Reborn #4, Born in the Stars, sheds a bit more light on the repercussions concerning the famed battle. Several years prior to the death of Rocket at the hands of Doctor Spectrum, the cybernetically enhanced raccoon and his houseplant accomplice Groot had taken in stray child Brandy Selby a.k.a. Starbrand as one of their own. As Rocket and Groot care for the Starbrand successor, Selby would grow a steady attachment to her two guardians. Upon learning of Rocket's violent demise, the young Brandy looks to take her vengeance to Earth, before being interrupted by the arrival of Wakandan spacecraft the Mackandal.
After a period of searching, the Wakandan Starpanther Mackandal spaceship has finally located its prime target, Starbrand. Consisting of an elongated design, the Mackandal is constructed from Wakanda's prized metal of Vibranium, which looks to be every bit as mighty in this reality as in the main Marvel Universe. Heading the Mackandal is experienced Dora Milaje general and faithful warrior to Wakanda, Oyoke. Prior to the arrival of the Mackandal, Doctor Spectrum has actively been working to find the forces responsible for several unauthorized departures from the planet Earth. Spectrum discovers from cosmic force Ego the Living Planet that his targets are undoubtedly associated with Wakanda, but that is simply nothing more than folklore in the alien's eyes.
Unlike the fictional nation from which it derives, the real inspiration behind Heroes Reborn's Mackandal spacecraft likely refers to Haitian rebel leader Francois Mackandal. A former slave, Mackandal was a pivotal figure in the early 18th century during the Haitian Revolution and was responsible for assembling his own team of worthy fighters consisting of American Indians and unconfined black slaves known as the Maroons.
Following Francois's enormous impact on Haiti and its slave revolt, Mackndal's legacy made its way into modern Marvel Comics with author and activist Ta-Nehisi Coates' landmark comic run on Black Panther. Coates employed the Maroons as a recurring fixture of his five-year run on the title. When a symbiote-powered Erik Killmonger sought to rule the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, Wakanda's ruler T'Challa a.k.a. Black Panther found himself allied with his world's assortment of Maroons, who were a rebel group of refugee Wakandans. In recent years, fictionalized depictions of Mackandal have even featured in other popular non-Marvel franchises including the Assassin's Creed video game series and writer Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods.
While it may not have always been a prevalent matter in Marvel Comics, Heroes Reborn #4 puts emphasis on Wakanda's extraterrestrial presence, beyond their earthbound borders of Africa. Though Spectrum initially believes the Wakandans to be nothing more than a myth, the American representative may need to expand his own terrain when the cosmic hero inevitably comes into contact with Black Panther and the Wakandan Space Command.