Warning: Contains spoilers for New Champions #4!

Marvel Comics just introduced a brand-new version of vibranium that’s bound to shake up New Champions. The powerful material is an iconic and integral piece of the nation of Wakanda’s history, but its newly-revealed version could change everything fans know about the substance and have even bigger ramifications for the Black Panther franchise and its characters in the greater Marvel Universe.

New Champions #4, written by Steve Foxe, with art by Ivan Fiorelli, details the origins of the series’ new Wakandan hero, the Gold Tiger. Along with Gold Tiger’s secret history, there are new revelations about a lost variant of vibranium, and it’s explained how it ties into the all-new Marvel superhero.

Discovered in the Cambodian jungle, golden vibranium was hidden away in a temple and somehow became attached to a pregnant Wakandan researcher. This mysterious version of vibranium was suddenly inextricably linked with the Wakandan researcher’s baby, thus creating Abena Adebayo’s superhero origin as the all-new Gold Tiger.

Gold Vibranium Officially Debuts, Giving A Midas-Like Twist To Wakanda’s Newest Hero

New Champions #4; Written By Steve Foxe; Art By Ivan Fiorelli; Color By Arthur Hesli; Lettering By VC’s Travis Lanham

Along with the introduction of this golden variant of vibranium, Marvel has a new hero that literally creates and embodies the powerful substance herself, with Midas-like powers to make what she touches transform into the mysterious material. There have been a few different versions introduced over the years, with known as Savage Land vibranium, an artificial version called reverbium, and a sentient form of the material that has been discovered in Earth-616’s past.

During Abena Adebayo’s fascinating superhero origin, it is remarked that other humans have bonded with vibranium before, but the young hero is special since her version of the substance is still relatively unknown. Though she’s studied in Wakanda and even trained alongside Dora Milaje warriors, the Gold Tiger has spent most of her childhood learning to control her abilities to transform items she touches into the golden vibranium. Granting extremely cool yet dangerous new powers, there’s still plenty to be explored about the origins of the gold vibranium itself and how the meteorite attached itself to Abena as a baby.

Marvel’s New Champion Gold Tiger Reveals Strong, Exciting Ties To Greater Black Panther Lore

With Unexpected Importance In The Overall Marvel Universe

With her intriguing backstory that could also have huge consequences for Black Panther and Marvel lore in general, Gold Tiger is instantly one of the best characters to debut in the New Champions lineup. There have only been glimpses of her history in Wakanda, but it should be interesting to see how both her and the golden version of vibranium could interact with T’Challa, Shuri, and other famous Wakandan characters in Marvel Comics. Since she can temporarily transform items into the vibranium, New Champions #4 even reveals that Gold Tiger’s powers have already made her a target of villains in the universe.

Gold Tiger might have the greatest connection to the hero that inspired her. There are many secrets that could be revealed about the golden version of vibranium that has attached itself to her.

New Champions has featured various potential sidekicks for iconic Marvel heroes, but the Gold Tiger might have the greatest connection to the hero that inspired her. There are many secrets that could be revealed about the golden version of vibranium that has attached itself to her, and it seems that there’s still plenty of creative material to be mined from her ties to the universe’s newly-revealed substance. The New Champions have not only introduced an exciting new character to their roster, but her powers could be the key to unlocking deeper Black Panther lore in the Marvel Universe.

New Champions #4 is available now from Marvel Comics!