Marvel fans have entered into a civil war over Black Bolt, after the Inhumans leader recently made his cinematic debut in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The return of Black Bolt was one of the major shocks of Doctor Strange 2, with fans surprised by the return of Anson Mount after the despicable Inhumans TV series from 2019. But its his original comic book appearances that has comics Twitter in an absolutely ridiculous debate.
A panel was shared from a Thanos vs. Black Bolt comic book, with it displaying the Mad Titan just tearing the Inhuman to shreds with zero mercy. It’s reminiscent of how Thanos dealt with Iron Man during the famous battle on Titan during Avengers: Infinity War, but it has sparked major controversy with Black Bolt stans.
The gruesome end for Black Bolt gave “graphic novel” a new meaning, but is it really emblematic of the character? Fans are divided. Some say the above panel is meaningless, as the mostly joke character Squirrel Girl has annihilated Thanos before in comics.
Black Bolt’s got a bit of a history of embarrassing himself, with one user pointed out him throwing a chunk of the moon at Hulk during World War Hulk and still, somehow, losing. Look there’s been plenty of L’s thrown his way.
But, fair play to Black Bolt, he has also done some damage to Thanos, as seen in this panel posted by another Twitter user. Dazzler, when infused with Bolt’s powers has also done considerable damage to the Infinity Gauntlet wielder.
Also a very good time to point out that Black Bolt’s real name, no joke, is Blackagar Boltagon. All for silly comic book names, but it’s one of the silliest. Right up there with naming your child Victor von Doom and not expecting him to be evil.
Fans always come back to silly versus scenarios for their favourite characters, and the power levels vary so often in the comics. As many pointed out, it’s not really a good snapshot considering how different reboots and writers deal with power levels.
Black Bolt’s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe has, however, rekindled hope with fans over the character’s cinematic future. Mount returning to the role as part of Doctor Strange 2’s Illuminati was short-lived on Earth-838, but his fate is unknown on Earth-616.