White Wolf (comics)

White Wolf is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Christopher Priest and artist Mark Texeira, the character first appeared in Black Panther vol. 3 #4 (February 1999). Hunter is known under the codename White Wolf. He is the adopted brother of the superheroes T'Challa / Black Panther and Shuri. He is the leader of the Wakanda's secret police Hatut Zeraze. The character is an antihero who has been a mercenary and a defender of Wakanda at various points in his history.

Publication history
Hunter debuted in Black Panther vol. 3 #4 (February 1999), created by Christopher Priest and Mark Texeira. He appeared in the 2021 Black Panther Legends series, the 2022 Captain America: Symbol of Truth series, the 2022 Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty series, and in the 2023 Captain America: Cold War Alpha one-shot.

Fictional character biography
After his parents died in a plane crash in Wakanda, Hunter was adopted by King T'Chaka. Being a white foreigner, Hunter was viewed with suspicion and even contempt by the cautious Wakandans. Despite this, he developed a true love for Wakanda as one of his adopted homeland's staunchest patriots. Hunter knew he would never ascend to the throne with T'Challa as the true heir and, feeling cheated, developed a deep jealousy for him. He drove himself to be the best Wakandan possible in an attempt to upstage his adopted brother. It was this fervor that led to the previous Black Panther appointing Hunter as leader of the Hatut Zeraze, the secret police of Wakanda, where he became known as the White Wolf.

When the current Black Panther disbanded the Hatut Zeraze due to their brutality, White Wolf and his loyal subordinates left Wakanda to work as mercenaries. Though resentful of this situation, White Wolf still harbored a love for his adopted home country, and thus tempered his resentment of Black Panther to aid their country when needed, serving as an ally of sorts to Kasper Cole, a temporary Black Panther.

Hunter became displeased that T'Challa abdicated the Wakandan throne to protect Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan (T'Challa's goal was to test himself after recent losses and Matt Murdock needed time to heal after recent events). In retaliation, he killed some people to take the Black Panther mantle from T'Challa. When Black Panther defeated White Wolf, he was told that Wakanda has no place for murderers.

During the "Empyre" storyline, White Wolf and the Hatut Zeraze appeared among the Wakandans who fought the Cotati in Khartoum.

Powers and abilities
White Wolf is an expert at hand-to-hand combat. His suit is made of vibranium mesh and possesses a special cloaking technology. His costume stops bullets in mid-flight, is immune to slashes, and can double as a business suit. It incorporates boots with energy-dampening abilities, and an assortment of handguns and other weapons.

Reception
Chase Magnett of ComicBook.com described White Wolf as one of the best Black Panther villains and expressed interest in seeing the character in a Marvel film. Peter Eckhardt of Comic Book Resources called White Wolf one of the most iconic villains of Black Panther. Darby Harn of Screen Rant named White Wolf one of the best Black Panther characters missing from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and described him as fascinating.

In other media

 * Hunter / White Wolf appears in Avengers Assemble, voiced by Scott Porter. This version is the adopted brother of T'Challa and Shuri and a former student of N'Jadaka. After N'Jadaka attempts to make him defect from Wakanda, White Wolf obtains a list of the Shadow Council's operatives and joins forces with his foster siblings to fight M'Baku. In "The Good Son", White Wolf tries to steal a powerful Wakandan artifact and hide it due to T'Challa working with Captain America and Helmut Zemo, but is stopped and imprisoned. In the two-part episode "King Breaker", White Wolf is released to help T'Challa stop the Shadow Council from starting a war with Atlantis using Iron Man's technology. In "Atlantis Attacks", White Wolf rescues T'Challa from Bask's execution by using Ulysses Klaue as a hostage. In retaliation for Madame Masque's technology attacking Atlantis for Bask, Lady Elanna and Tiger Shark go after T'Challa and White Wolf. Though Shuri manages to convince them of Bask's self-sacrifice and T'Challa makes peace with Lady Elanna, Tiger Shark kills White Wolf, causing T'Challa to viciously attack the former and nearly repay him in kind before relenting to honor White Wolf's memory.
 * Hunter / White Wolf appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel's Avengers as part of the Black Panther expansion pack.