Nnedi Okorafor Creates New Dora Milaje Story for Marvel

By Sameer Rao Mar 19, 2018

The most badass fight scenes in "Black Panther" revolved around the Dora Milaje, the all-female military unit tasked with defending Wakanda from internal and external threats. Come June, fans of the Dora Milaje can dig deeper into their story with a new comic series from novelist and scholar Nnedi Okorafor.


Okorafor confirmed to Vogue on Friday (March 16) that she will write the Dora Milaje into "Wakanda Forever: Amazing Spider-Man." Marvel said in a statement that the comic will send the warriors to New York City, where they enlist Spider-Man to help fight a threat to Wakandan national security. That book arrives in June, followed by "Wakanda Forever: X-Men" in July and "Wakanda Forever: Avengers" in August. Okorafor will write those, too.



Okorafor uses Afrofuturist themes to explore contemporary African identity in such books as "Who Fears Death."


"I like to write the future; the Africa I feel can be and the Africa that will be, that has always been my vision,” she told Vogue. “With Wakanda, a place set in the present but with a futuristic outlook, it wasn’t a hard transition—it made a lot of sense.”


The author added that these books will show the Dora Milaje acting independently from the king, which is rarely seen in the comics and the movies. "Typically, when you see them, they’re with T’Challa, representing and protecting him,” Okorafor said. “Now you’re going to see the Dora Miljae for the first time as an independent entity; they’re not under the shadow of the throne.”


This comic series is not the first to focus on the unit. Roxane Gay and Yona Harvey prominently featured several Dora Milaje members in "Black Panther: World of Wakanda," their now-canceled Marvel project. The authors depicted a love story between two soldiers, Ayo and Aneka, who sought to balance their romance with their military duties.