Black Panther- T'Chaka!

This is the approved concept design I did of the former Black Panther, the king of Wakanda, T’Chaka! I didn’t get to work on this film beyond this character since I was busy leading Marvel Studios’ Visual Development department on Thor: Ragnarok at the time. But a big thanks to Ryan Meinerding who was leading Black Panther at the time & he asked me to help out and do some versions of this character. I was more than happy to oblige. Ryan Coogler, the director, wanted us to try putting some clothing on him so I did a lot of research on African wraps, tunics & pants that can go along with the Black Panther look I was going for. Rodney Fuentebella designed a sash that the director liked so I incorporated that into the top part of his clothing. I was trying to come up with a design that was still high tech but less so than T’Challa’s Civil War look- thus the visible tactical vest (which was definitely influenced by the Black Panther: The Man Without Fear comic book run).