@Realdealholy you over there putting in WORK in the CBR forum
Even though T'Challa, in my eyes, will always and forever be the true Black Panther and King of Wakanda, your posts have opened me up to a greater appreciation of Shuri as an important character in the BP mythos
Much appreciated breh. Like you and many others, T'Challa is my favorite character, and I prefer that he is king. Thus, the minute Shuri had the spot for a bit, fans immediately pushed back on Shuri, despite the positives. Which I understand.
However, fans have to realize that its not a good look for a franchise to be THAT top heavy (its currently T'Challa and no one of relevance). Look at all the most popular characters in comics, they have the franchise player, then the second option, and even a third. T'Challa doesn't solidly have that yet.
Shuri is literally the ONLY other viable BP character besides T'Challa who can be used in major events / other books. More importantly, she is not her brother in many ways. I like the fact that she the more traditional of the two. I like that she's much more direct. And I especially like that she's 100% Wakanda-First. All she needs is a bit more development and her own adventures and she'll be alright.
Wakandan traditionalism / pro-wakandanism has usually been portrayed as somewhat of a bad look. M'Baku and Hunter have portrayed those beliefs in comics, but, imho, their extremes in actions (Hunter would do the most fukked up stuff to be accepted in Wakanda) and extremes in ideology (M'Baku is way too traditional) only make T'Challa look good in the grand scheme of things. Shuri's version of being pro-wakandan is much more moderate and, when compared to T'Challa's more "progressive" views, it actually might get you like
. This is especially the case in New Avengers / TRO. She is actually a very good character in that story arc and is one of the very few things I give Hickman much props for. Which is one of the reasons why I find his version of T'Challa so frustrating.
A sidenote: Based on the breadcrumbs left from New Avengers / TRO / Secret wars and how the mainstream appears to really like that portrayal of T'Challa, I have a feeling that as he rises in popularity, there will be subtle changes in his view, actions, and directives as a BP and a king. I think T'Challa will be slowly molded as a leader who not only feels Wakanda should be more active in world affairs, but should be on some "save the world, be more open and accepting, kumbaya" type of stuff. I also think that the more mainstream T'Challa becomes, the more he will be subtly molded to be more acceptable to "western" sensibilities.
Which is why I hope that Shuri is not only still around but gets a push. She won't be and prolly never will be as popular as T'Challa. However, besides being a strong, steadfast black female character who is a highly-trained warrior, her political views will help balance all the potential fukkery we may witness in the BP mythos.
I'd cop that shyt immediately. 
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