'The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda' Book Cover Launches Black Panther Into a Cosmic Rebellion

In 2018, Ta-Nehisi Coates teamed up with artist Daniel Acuna to expand the world of Wakanda beyond the stars. BLACK PANTHER (2018) introduced the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda and put T’Challa at the center of a cosmic rebellion.

Now, award-winning author Suyi Davies Okungbowa adapts Coates and Acuna’s work into the novel, Marvel: Black Panther – The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda. From Penguin Random House, the anticipated novelization of the acclaimed comic book story hits shelves April 29, 2025.

Lost to time, space, and legend, Wakanda's rightful king must answer the call of rebellion…

On Earth, Wakanda is a beacon of prosperity and a bastion of freedom. But across the expanse of space, thousands of lightyears away, lies another Wakanda. One that has grown to hold five galaxies in its iron grip. One that steals the memories of those it enslaves. One that has abandoned the values of its forbearers and seeks only the glory and power of Empire.

Lost amongst unfamiliar stars, a man finds himself trapped in an imperial mining camp—one of the countless Nameless violated by the Empire. He knows not how he got there, who he is, or even his name. Only a haunting vision of a woman who he must have known once, imploring him to "Come back to me." The only thing he does know, in his bones, is that he must fight the oppression that binds him and the others around him.

It is that will to fight that leads him to the Maroons, a band of rebels, determined to shatter the Empire and restore the memories of the Nameless. Quickly, the man proves his worth with an unparalleled skill for battle, and the Maroons bestow on the man a title of hope, promise, and responsibility: T'Challa.

As T'Challa's reputation amongst the rebels and ordinary citizens spreads, whispers of hope begin to swirl. Could this be the true T'Challa of old, the Avenger? The one Who Puts the Knife Where it Belongs? As all eyes turn to him, T'Challa must decide if he will embrace a future of responsibility as their savior or pursue the mystery of his true past.

MARVEL: BLACK PANTHER — THE INTERGALACTIC EMPIRE OF WAKANDA
ISBN: 978-0593723494
Hardcover | 320 pages | $30.00
By Suyi Davies Okungbowa
Publishing on April 29, 2025

Speaking to Marvel.com, author Suyi Davies Okungbowa discusses the various inspirations behind the novel.

Your source material was the Black Panther comic series written by Ta-Nehisi Coates. How was the story in your novel inspired by that comic run and how did you make it your own? 

Ta-Nehisi had already done such an excellent job with the original story, providing a complex narrative, an intriguing world and a vast array of characters to work with. Having these multiple points of entry meant that working to adapt it for a novel felt like being gently ushered in by careful hands. I found comfort in discovering new spaces in this world to explore. With a comic, much of the back-end stuff doesn't always make it to the page. I found myself savouring these gaps, exploiting these opportunities in that way a novel allows you to, and therefore expanding the envelope that previous readers of the comic would've been familiar with. Now, everyone can experience the opportunity to roam free and further, unbounded, in this intergalactic empire.

As a long time fan of the character, what does the Black Panther mean to you?

I didn't discover the Black Panther until adulthood, but even then, I immediately understood the opportunities the existence of this super hero—the very space taken up in popular consciousness—represents. As I've said in a previous essay, the existence of the Black Panther—and in tandem, Wakanda—is a door prodded open, a model turned moment turned movement. Somewhere within this is an opportunity for those who understand and identify with this super hero to peep through this crack and discover more than they'd ever imagined on the other side.

The Black Panther mythos, and Wakanda more broadly, draw inspiration from real-world cultures across Africa. In your writing, is there anything from African mythology that informs your characters? 

My writing, I would say, is always inseparable from the fact of my African heritage—to tell stories about anything would always require drawing from my own perceptions of the world, which is funneled through my African self. In this way, even prior to approaching this Black Panther project, I've always brought said understanding of real-world cultural positionalities (or imaginations of them) to everything I write.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Suyi Davies Okungbowa is an award-winning author of fantasy and science fiction. His latest books include Warrior of the Wind (sequel to Son of the Storm in the Nameless Republic epic fantasy trilogy) and the novella Lost Ark Dreaming. He lives in Ontario, where he is a professor of creative writing at the University of Ottawa.

Marvel: Black Panther – The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda is available from Penguin Random House and wherever books are sold on April 29, 2025!