Warning! Spoilers ahead for Avengers Forever #6
While variant heroes in the Marvel Multiverse typically have one or two things that set them apart from the original, Black Panther's Vibranium Man combines elements of 5 different heroes to make one truly epic Avenger. Pushing the applications of Wakanda's rare vibranium further than ever before, this variant of T'Challa in the latest issue of Avengers Forever embodies a collection of classic heroes (and not just from the Marvel Universe either).
Previous issues of Avengers Forever have offered different looks across the multiverse as the Multiversal Masters of the Evil have been conquering worlds left and right, leaving the primary Earth-616 for last. While the still mysterious hero known as Avenger Prime has been assembling heroes across universes to prepare for the Masters, the power the villains possess is extreme. This includes King Killmonger, a version of Black Panther's nemesis who got his hands on Asgard's Destroyer Armor.
Now, Avengers Forever #6 from Jason Aaron, Jim Towe, and Guru-eFX features a version of T'Challa who gets shot into space as an infant by his parents to survive the destruction of his world at the hands of Killmonger. Growing up, T'Challa salvages the vibranium from the rocket that saved him to forge his own suit. Crawling on walls and shooting out vibranium-mesh webs, T'Challa is known as the Sky Spider. However, the destruction of this new world by Killmonger sees T'Challa's suit transforming to protect him, giving him armor and repulsors with T'Challa also creating an AI program. Unfortunately, T'Challa's next encounter with Killmonger saw the unimpressed villain throwing the Vibranium Man into a star. Cocooned inside his vibranium which protected him once more, T'Challa is subjected to all kinds of forces within the star before he's rescued by the former Ghost Rider Robbie Reyes who's now the All-Rider. Declaring himself the Star-Panther with brand new powers (and a cape), it seems as though the variant Black Panther is finally ready to "kill the Killmonger" after embodying Superman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Star-Lord all in one issue.
While the foundation of the character is still Black Panther, the origins and final suit are clearly Superman-inspired now that T'Challa is The Last Wakandan. Furthermore, the shifting powers provided by his suit helped him mimic both Spider-Man and Iron Man (even if he didn't know it), proving the vast capabilities of vibranium. While King Killmonger called for T'Challa to be more original next time, Vibranium Man taking on these different attributes is very cool and exciting, especially now that he's harnessed the power of a star as the Star-Panther (not unlike the current version of Peter Quill's Star-Lord).
As Avengers Forever continues one can imagine that King Killmonger won't be expecting this particular T'Challa variant to return, especially not with the amped-up cosmic powers he now wields. No doubt recruited by Robbie Reyes for the war that's ahead, the Vibranium Man/Star-Panther is an awesome addition to the force being assembled by Avenger Prime. This variant of Black Panther has seemingly gone further than any T'Challa before him, meaning he just might stand a chance in his next battle with Killmonger in the issues to come.
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