Hey Kip! I see your point, but I'm not sure I agree completely. I think the problem has more to do with the regard in which Marvel/the creators of a shared universe story hold BP. I could envision working into the story that part of T'Challa's plan was to stay close enough to the key players to subtly influence his desired outcome while the lion's share of the fighting and enemy's focus was on the, so to speak heavy hitters. All the while, a cunning and strategic genius worthy of consideration as "The Most Dangerous Man Alive" could have actually orchestrated or at least facilitated the inevitable victory. In my opinion, this should have been the role BP played in global cataclysms such as, "World War Hulk" and "Fear Itself." That however would be giving T'Challa a lot of cred as a "major player" in the Marvel Universe. Despite a professed desire to do so, Marvel has lacked either the vision or the desire to go there.
We should not dismiss "Doom War" which was actually close, perhaps just a few beats away from establishing T'Challa as that major Marvel U player. In my view, they pulled back a bit too much, not allowing T'Challa to shine enough and establish credibility by recouping his honor with a few visceral, logically satisfying, superhero feats. I totally dig the fact that he invented "Shadow Physics," but at the end of the day it is a comic book. You can't make a successful "action" film by having the hero talk the bad guys into submission or create some trap that can't be adequately conceptualized in a visual medium. Doom and the Desturi, apart from threatening the world, stomped on his country and locked him out while they killed his uncle, abducted and threatened his wife and mother. That's worth a serious beat-down any day of the week. Likely, they held back in deference to Doom's rep and fan following. And that's the real problem for T'Challa/BP.
Peace,
Mont
