um, why is black panther white in this new pin released by disney?

If Black Panther wasn’t Black, it’s likely that he would be no more interesting than all the other Marvel superheroes in their (what seems like) 1,000,000 film universe. Certainly, there wouldn’t be so much hype around the film’s opening next month. T’Challa, the ruler of the fictional African nation Wakanda’s Blackness is central, and, of all people, Disney—which has the rights to this franchise—should know that.

That’s what makes their new Black Panther pin so ridiculous. In a post by Disney Pins Blog claiming to have spotted the trinket at Disney World, the item can be seen with what looks like white eyelids and cheeks through it’s mask.

Looks pretty light to me, no?

Granted, this could be a trick of the lighting, or a more lighter skinned interpretation of T’Challa, but the best possible scenario is that this is an colorism, given that the character has only ever been portrayed as brown or dark skinned.

We hope this isn’t an indication of the politics they will force onto the film.