Both writers were recruited to Marvel by Coates, with Gay telling The New York Times that the job is "the most bizarre thing I've ever done, and I mean that in the best possible way." As a result of their hiring, Gay and Harvey will become the first female African-American writers for Marvel.

The spinoff announcement follows the massive launch of the current Black Panther series, illustrated by Brian Stelfreeze — with an estimated 253,259 orders in the U.S. alone, it's the third best-selling issue of the year to date — and comes ahead of 2018's Black Panther movie, directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Chadwick Boseman as the title character.

World of Wakanda launches in November. Coates' ongoing Black Panther will release its first collected edition, Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet Book 1, in September.