Did anyone else pick up on the way Doom and Molecule Man used the same language as Shuri and T'Challa ("put the knife where it belongs") about writing history and causing the universal collapses?
As I saw it, the exchange reminded me about an old Christopher Priest statement was T'Challa was the 'good' version of Doom in the MU. The constant replays about Shuri wounding Proxima Midnight (as well as T'Challa stabbing Namor) make me wonder about the longer term effects of being stabbed with vibranium.
There is an interesting narrative triangle that MU has created between Reed, T'Challa, and Doom. I think it may be at the center of the Secret Wars plot.
What do you think?
I noticed the deliberate word choice and language similarities right away, as of course...Hickman made sure that these "similarities" were not accidents at all but reflective of important parts of the plot and storylines. And yes, I had been given reason to reflect several times upon the suggestion that TChalla was the good version of Doom...and Magneto...and a few other characters...combined.
T'Challa was more than the good version of Doom as CJP initially drew similarities between Magneto and TChalla, and then went beyond that to Doom and others. RH also specifically repeated that he liked the TCHALLA/DOOM "opposite sides of the same coin" comparison.
I personally think that TChalla is smarter than Doom is. I mean TChalla the human Wakandan unaugmented in any way...not TChalla as THE BLACK PANTHER, with his ability to draw upon the undefeated unbroken 10k year old line of supergeniuses who are The Black Panthers as his inner resources, and not TChallas as THE KING OF THE DEAD, wherein he is able to automatically and consistently share the experiences of al lother Panthers as if these things happened to TChalla himself, as opposed to "merely" spiritually consulting with them as he can as THE BLACK PANTHER.
In my fanfic, I have T'Syan tell D'Ciggs that the reason that Doom was able to get the drop on TChalla is because TChalla was still fighting the inoperable aneurysm that he caught under CJP's pen,and it had progressed to the point where it compromised TChalla enough to be nearly killed by Doom, before he righted himself and manipulated Doom into what became DOOM WAR.
TChalla's return from the realm of Death due to Ororo's heroics led him directly to experimenting with not just Shadow Physics but Dark Physics, and these experiments led to him discovering and implementing the cure to his inoperable brain aneurysm. Where science couldn't operate, magic and a blend of science magic and ka could operate and triumph.
As for Secret Wars? I'm sure that it's only the beginning. Unlike many here, I don't buy that Doom Strange and Molecule Man are dead. Seems to me that The Beyonders tricked DOOM into hurling that...universe killing bomb...into The Beyonders' dimensional aperture or whatever. And this weapon killed all the universes except for two, as TChalla and Reed confirmed. The Beyonders moved themselves into the same reality that is occupied by 616 Doom Strange and Molecule Man. The other Universe is of course The Ultimate Universe.
Things are about to get real interesting.
And for the record? I don't like the mask of TChalla wherein we get to actually see his eyes. Like his mask has holes cut out for the eyes. I like the Priest era and Ledkilla habits TChalla rocked. I jsut want the Priest era habit to be BLACK with gold. The original Black Panther outfit I thought was too dull. It was cool to an extent but...too dull. I like the improvements made upon it by other artists, but the BLACK AND GOLD version of the Priest era outfit is where it's at.
