Is Black Panther Gay, Bisexual, or Straight? What Is Marvel Canon?

Black Panther was always an important part of the Marvel comics. Besides the obvious representation in the fictional media, the character of T’Challa provided us with a great look into African culture, despite being the fictional country of Wakanda. T’Challa was depicted as an attractive and determined man who values his duties and family above anything else. This article will examine whether Black Panther is gay, bisexual, or straight and what is the Marvel canon.

Black Panther is straight in the Marvel comics and Marvel Cinematic Universe. T’Challa has been with women since his first appearance and even married one of the most notable X-Man, Ororo Munroe, also known as Storm. T’Challa worked with many superheroes in his tenure, and besides the marriage, he was involved with other women, like Nakia, Nicole Adams, Divine Justice, and more. Kasper Cole, who carried the mantle of White Tiger, has a girlfriend in the comics, and Shuri, T’Challa’s sister, and an eventual Black Panther was not involved with anyone in particular in the comics.

We will discuss this topic more by looking into Black Panther’s sexuality and love interests in the comics, mentioning the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and providing you with our conclusion. If you are interested in this topic, stay with us until the end of the article.

Black Panther’s relationships in MCU and Marvel comics

Since his first appearance, Black Panther has always carried a sense of intimidation and coolness in his sphere. The superhero first appeared in the Fantastic Four comics in 1966 and was the first superhero of African descent in mainstream American comics. 

He was always close allies with the Fantastic Four and Avengers and even offered Falcon the job of being his bodyguard after Sam Wilson lost everything. Black Panther is at odds with Namor, the Sub-Mariner, and his underwater Kingdom of Atlantis, and the pinnacle of the conflict happened when Atlanteans decided to invade Wakanda.

The country of Wakanda is also rich in the valuable metal vibranium, and it is constantly attacked by outsiders who want to get their hands on the almost indestructible metal.

Because of the constant threats his country is under, T’Challa always had a lot of responsibilities and determination to protect his country from evil. Those circumstances “prevented” T’Challa from being with that many people, although he had some women “overly eager” for his attention.

From the article, you will notice that some of T’Challa’s partners are similar to Daredevil and his escapades with women, which is interesting and disturbing at the same time.

Monica Lynne, the American singer was T’Challa’s, long-term love

We will mention a few (there aren’t that many) and start this section with Monica Lynne, an American native of Georgia whose ancestor was killed by a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Yes, that clan. Monica eventually moved to New York, where she met Black Panther, who saved her from the racist organization Sons of Serpent. 

The two hit it off quickly and began a long-term romantic relationship. T’Challa and Monica’s relationship was partly long-distance, partly spent together in Wakanda, and Georgia, when Monica’s younger sister died. T’Challa came back to the United States to help with the investigation. However, things changed when Monica met a fellow journalist Kevin Trublood.

Monica Lynne and T’Challa got engaged to be married, but the former was the one who called off the engagement, which greatly confused T’Challa. It was later revealed that Monica was involved with Trublood, which surprised the ruler of Wakanda. The duo met up a few more times, both in New York and Wakanda, where Nakia, a member of Dora Milaje order, attacked Monica because she was obsessed with T’Challa. 

Poor Monica ended up in the hands of Eric Killmonger, who used her to mock Black Panther. Eventually, Monica returned to the United States, where she was seen singing sad songs at her concert in Washington, where she expressed regret about T’Challa marrying another woman. 

Unfortunately, Monica Lynne got diagnosed with terminal cancer, and despite T’Challa’s attempts to help her, she succumbed to her disease. Monica and T’Challa had a complicated relationship, but they loved each other. However, the circumstances around their relationship did not help them at all.

Nakia of the comics is much different from her MCU counterpart

Next, we have Nakia, with whom T’Challa was in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Marvel comics. Now, the versions of the characters are vastly different, and Nakia seems a much more pleasant person in the Marvel movies than in the comics.

Let’s start with comics. Nakia was “groomed” from her childhood to become a member of the order of women known as Dora Milaje, who also served the Black Panther as his protectors and bodyguards. After being honorably accepted into the order, Nakia enjoyed growing up in the Royal Palace of Wakanda, which most people only dreamed about. 

Eventually, Nakia became obsessed with her king T’Challa and started fantasizing about marrying the Black Panther one day. However, Dora Milaje was limited to only ceremonial obligations, and Black Panther did not involve himself intimately with the order of female warriors. Let’s just say that Nakia did not get the memo, ignored the warnings, decided to full Gone Girl, and even forcefully tried to drown herself for T’Challa to administer mouth-to-mouth. 

Nakia was not psychologically well, which escalated when she ejected Monica Lynne from the Talon Fighter – T’Challa found out and dismissed her from the Dora Milaje order. She was forsaken and shamed by her tribe, which prompted her to run away, die, and be resurrected by Eric Killmonger – Nakia was now called Malice.

Since then, Malice actively worked against Black Panther and her country, eventually leading to her death. In the MCU, Nakia is a much more stable and better person than her comic book counterpart. She is a brave, kind, stubborn, and incredibly determined person who would do anything to protect her country.

Nakia and T’Challa were romantically involved in the Black Panther movie, and they matched incredibly well – Boseman and Nyong’o had great chemistry. Nakia was T’Challa’s right hand, and they were great together. 

Black Panther and Storm got married in the comics, and they really loved each other

Next, we have one of the most iconic romantic relationships in recent comic book history – a marriage between Black Panther and Storm. The duo met quite early in their lives, as teenagers in Egypt, and they fell in love immediately. After resolving the coup d’état in the US, T’Challa proposed to Storm, and the duo married.

The event was huge, and Wakandians, X-Men, Avengers, and more attended the wedding. Their relationship was intact until Shuri and Wakandians destroyed Atlantis, and the spouses ended up on separate sides of the battle. 

However, despite the initial conflict between X-Men and Avengers, they are still close in the comics.

We will briefly mention two other women – Nicole Adams, who was romantically involved with T’Challa during his studies in the United States and eventually got involved with Everett Ross, and Monica Rambeau, then known as a hero Pulsar. 

Monica Rambeau helped Black Panther defeat Killmonger, but comics revealed that the woman had unrecruited feelings for T’Challa. 

Kasper Cole/White Tiger, is a straight man, but Shuri’s preferences are still unexplored

We will mention Kasper Cole, who took over the Black Panther mantle, specifically Black Panther armor, and decided to use the alias to take down the 66 Bridges Gang. After the advice from Sam Wilson, Kasper Cole dropped the Black Panther mantle and became White Tiger. He was in a bad relationship with the woman Gwen, who got pregnant with his son, but Kasper directed his true feelings toward his high school sweetheart, Grace.

Shuri was another one who took over the mantle of Black Panther (which will probably be the case in the Black Panther 2 movie), and her preferences mostly involved men, but that fact is not fully confirmed. In the MCU, she is mostly occupied with science and inventions to have time for romance, but that will probably change in the future.

Is Black Panther Gay, Bisexual or Straight?

Ultimately, we can conclude that Black Panther is definitely, mostly straight. All of T’Challa’s love interests were women, and one of the relationships was with the notable X-Men Storm. His duty as a ruler and protector of Wakanda does not give him time actually to pursue relationships, but even when he’s not trying, some women want him “too much.” 

Kasper Cole, or White Tiger, is a straight man who has a child with his ex-girlfriend Gwen. Finally, Shuri might be interested in men, but we only briefly saw that with G’Mal in the Black Panther comic book issue from 2005. When it comes to MCU, things might be different in the future for Black Panther, but for now, we will settle with Black Panther being straight.

Liked this article? Join us on Reddit for the latest Marvel & DC news!