They are the deadliest hunters in the galaxy: the Yautja. He is the apex predator of the jungle: the Black Panther. Over the course of the four-issue Predator vs. Black Panther series from writer Benjamin Percy (Wolverine) and artists Chris Allen (X-Force), Sean Hill (Wakanda), and Lee Ferguson (Blade), the warriors of Wakanda and the alien warriors of a Yautja clan have clashed over Earth’s most valuable resource: Godmetal, what the people of Wakanda know as Vibranium. The Yautja turned Wakanda into a bloody hunting ground in search of the Wakandan Vibranium that King T’Challa and his ancestors have protected for centuries.
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Years ago, rival Yautja clans led by two brothers staked a claim over a planet in the Wolf Star System as their hunting grounds. The brothers battled for the respect of their father, the King, who wielded his prized hunting trophy: a Vibranium-tipped spear. The father favored his stronger son over his smaller, one-legged son, so they engaged in a blood hunt that only one brother would survive. The winner would claim their honor — and the throne.
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The older brother’s clan won their blood sport because of the rare metallic substance in the King’s spear, collected during the father’s month-long hunt on Earth. The advanced technology of the Yautja was laced with the Godmetal to create a weapon that the smaller brother could not defeat. Rather than kill his sibling, granting him the honor of dying in battle, the elder brother stripped him of his weapons, tied him to a totem, and left him to die in dishonor.
But where his brother was bigger and stronger, he was smarter. The Yautja integrated tech into his body to make himself more formidable, including subcutaneous wrist blades, and targeted the Vibranium spear. If he could possess the metal that absorbs vibratory energy, he could fashion himself a helmet, body armor, wrist gauntlets, and a leg to build himself into the ultimate Predator. The younger Yautja took what remained of his disadvantaged clan and traveled to Earth to hunt down the source of the Vibranium: the African nation of Wakanda.
The Yautja hacked the cloaking technology shielding the kingdom from the outside world and invaded Wakanda, the isolated nation built on superior technology sourced from their Vibranium supply. King T’Challa chose to protect his kingdom by keeping Wakanda and their resources secret, but his sister, Princess Shuri, planned to open Wakanda’s borders and share their resources with the world.
Using their cloaking systems, the Predators hunted the Black Panther as the Yautja sought to claim his Vibranium-woven suit. The Yautja warrior would have his prize: the Yautja and his hunting party first killed the perimeter watch then trapped Wakanda’s people within the dome meant to keep the world out, turning Wakanda into the Yautja’s hunting preserve.
Ultimate Predator vs. Black Panther
The Yautja attacked General Okoye and the Dora Milaje, killing Nala and claiming her head as a trophy. The Dora Milaje responded by killing one of the hunting Predators, who had compromised Wakanda’s technology and temporarily incapacitated its king. The elder seer Maji Kina foresaw the death of Wakanda if T’Challa could not stop the invaders from claiming his throne. But the Black Panther defeated and killed one of the Yautja’s clan warriors, proving himself a worthy prey. As they raided the Great Mound — the source of Wakanda’s Vibranium — the Yautja paused his hunt. He would instead use the Godmetal to create armor, weapons, and warships to defeat his father and brother, take the throne, and reclaim his honor.
Meanwhile, Black Panther and Wakanda’s warriors, the Dora Milaje and the Hatut Zeraze, hunted the hunters. A hunter-predator killed Maji Kina with a spear through the eyes while he was trapped outside of Wakanda’s perimeter with Shuri, who barely survived her fight with the Predator she killed, avenging Maji Kina. She claimed the Predator’s helmet to reverse-engineer Yautja technology as her brother, struck down by the Yautja’s plasma blast, visited the Ancestral Plane.
T’Challa consulted with his grandfather, Azzuri the Wise, who told him that Wakanda once fought these enemies decades earlier. Hundreds of Wakandans died defending Vibranium, and the survivors studied their technological advancements to create a perimeter shield based on the Yautja’s cloaking technology. Azzuri was called an isolationist, but he siloed off Wakanda to protect its people from not just these predators — but all predators.
“There will be nothing but bones and ashes left of Wakanda if these predators have their way,” Azzuri warned T’Challa. “You must stop them. The Panther must win.” At the Great Mound, the Black Panther, the Dora Milaje, and the War Dogs stalked the hunters into the mines where the Yautja unleashed an army of Predators clad in Vibranium armor.
With Okoye and Akili at his side, Black Panther told his warriors to pick off the Yautja as they brutally stalked and killed a War Dog. Meanwhile, Shuri sent a distress signal that was answered by Captain America’s partner, the Falcon, outside the Wakanda perimeter shield. Shuri hacked the slain Yautja’s technology and took to the skies with Falcon as her brother infiltrated the mines beneath Wakanda’s Great Mound.
The Yautja decapitated Akili and turned the Dora Milaje into a red spray as their alien weapons blew their heads off before they set sight on the enemy. Okoye survived and plunged her Vibranium-tipped spear into the Predator’s armor. As the remaining Yautja attacked from the shadows, Black Panther fought his way to their leader: the brother with the red scar.
Black Panther shed his armor. The Yautja shed his armor. They fought face to face, skin to skin, spear to spear — as honor demanded. T’Challa pinned the Yautja, put the Vibranium spear to his throat, and told him to yield. Remembering the disgrace he suffered from his father and brother, the Yautja attacked T’Challa, slashing at him with subcutaneous wrist blades.
Predator Versus Black Panther: To the Victor Go the Spoils
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Predator vs. Black Panther #4 ended with the Yautja and T’Challa at a standstill. Predators and the Wakandans proved evenly matched, and the Yautja took the Godmetal they came for with a promise to return for a rematch stronger than before. As Okoye reunited with the wounded king, Shuri and Falcon intercepted the Yautja starship escaping with the stolen Vibranium. As the Yautja approached the atmosphere, he sent a message to his brother: he was returning home to win back his honor with the Godmetal — and with blood. Shuri planted a bomb on the Yautja’s ship that then detonated, destroying the would-be king. In the end, nothing survived the blast but the Vibranium.
Lightyears away, the Predator King and his favored son received the warning message. It alerted them to the source of the Godmetal they would need to advance their arsenal and allow the Yautja to battle any army in the cosmos — including Earth’s. Next: Predator Vs. Spider-Man #1 brings the battle to New York City in 2025.
