Two characters who ain’t the best of friends will be forced to work together this fall against an even bigger threat. Marvel has announced Black Panther/Namor: Doomed, a five-issue limited series from writers Ethan S. Parker and Griffin Sheridan with art by Stefano Nesi that’ll launch in September.
The series finds T’Challa and Namor in an uneasy alliance after Wakanda and Atlantis are attacked by demonic forces, sending the two leaders on a quest into Hell. There, they discover Doctor Doom’s wandering soul, following his death in One World Under Doom.
“Truly, we feel like the most fortunate writers on Earth to get to tell stories with any of the iconic heroes from the limitless sandbox of the Marvel Universe, let alone icons as monumental as T’Challa, Namor, and Victor Von Doom,” Parker said. “Black Panther is one of the coolest and most inspiring figures in all of fiction, and the Sub-Mariner’s iconic rivalry with him as one of the founding members of Marvel dating back to 1939 is the most hilarious and compelling dynamic we could hope to put our own personal spin on. We can’t wait to show readers the unimaginable dangers that lie ahead in this bold new era.”
The story spins out of Avengers: Armageddon, where the two heroes fight alongside the Avengers against Red Hulk, and upcoming issues of Captain America, where Doom’s presence in Hell will be revealed. It also has deep roots in Namor and Black Panther’s history, going back to Defenders #84, where they first clashed after Atlantean soldiers tried to buy stolen Wakanda technology. That was just the first of many clashes between the two, which continued in the solo Black Panther title, Avengers vs. X-Men and New Avengers, among others.
“T’Challa, Namor and Doom are among the richest characters comics have to offer,” Sheridan said. “Not only are all three of them iconic in their own right, but the interpersonal relationships they have with each other seem to be an endless wellspring for enthralling stories. These are colossal characters, so we’re throwing a story with colossal stakes at them – a story that finds Black Panther, Sub-Mariner, and Doctor Doom all in unique, new roles within the Marvel Universe. For those reasons and many others, working on Doomed has been a real privilege.”
Black Panther/Namor: Doomed #1 goes on sale Sept. 2, with a main cover by Dave Johnson.