For Black Panther fans, today's new trailer offers a feast of geeky delights. The new footage revealed in the trailer offers a closer glimpse of the film's heroes and villains. And perhaps most intriguing, it features a shot of Michael B. Jordan's Erik Killmonger suiting up in his own version of the Black Panther costume. In keeping with the grand tradition of movies like iron Man and Ant-Man, it looks as though the climax of Black Panther will feature T'Challa going toe-to-toe with a villain who's stolen the very source of his powers.

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How the Suit Works

The Heart-Shaped Herb

Black Panther: Official Movie Images 51 IMAGES

Killmonger's Rise to Power

Other Black Panthers

Fans of the Black Panther comics will know that there's some precedent for Killmonger stealing the image and powers of Black Panther. Read on for all the details...While not everyone is cut out to be Black Panther, wearing the costume isn't quite as complicated as, say, wielding Thor's hammer or reverse-engineering the Iron Man armor. In its most basic form, the Black Panther costume is little more more than a piece of vibranium-lined spandex. It has certain benefits. Vibranium is bullet-proof, heavily resistant to damage and conducts sound and energy so efficiently that it enhances the wearers natural movements. A gifted athlete like T'Challa becomes all the more agile and nimble while wearing the suit. But it won't suddenly morph an ordinary person into an unstoppable powerhouse.That said, Black Panther's suit has grown more advanced with time. More recent additions include gravity-defying boots that allow Black Panther to run up walls, "anti-metal" claws that can slice through even objects like Captain America's shield and an advanced computer system called Kimoyo. Panther can even summon energy daggers to throw at his enemies.As handy as the Black Panther costume can be in a pinch, the real source of Black Panther's powers comes from an object called the Heart-Shaped Herb. This mystically charged plant is ingested by a person as they complete the necessary rites to become the new Black Panther. Once ingested, the herb grants the user enhanced senses, agility and stamina. Essentially, it's nature's own version of the Super-Soldier Serum.The catch is that not everyone is cut out to ingest the Heart-Shaped Herb. Not unlike Mjolnir, harnessing the power of the herb requires a certain nobility of spirit and a degree of royal blood. Killmonger found this out the hard way when he briefly usurped the Black Panther mantle in the 1998-2004 comic. His body proved unable to withstand its effects, and Killmonger was poisoned and left comatose. However, eventually he recovered and developed a synthetic version that granted him similar superhuman abilities.The second trailer includes a number of brief bits of footage that make a convincing case for the idea that Killmonger will steal the mantle of Black Panther in the film. We see him don his own suit at the 1:36 mark. Later, we see T'Challa and Killmonger battling each other while wearing their own versions of the suit. Other footage seems to showcase W'Kabi and a group of T'Challa's Dora Milaje bodyguards serving Killmonger instead. Perhaps Killmonger will make good on his promise to usurp the Wakandan throne?It's possible. While the throne and the Black Panther title are generally passed down from father to son, each son must first prove himself worthy of the role. A new Black Panther is crowned only after he defeats the current Black Panther and a group of Wakanda's six finest warriors in open combat. Killmonger succeeded in claiming the throne in the 1998 comic because he was able to defeat T'Challa one-on-one. He was crowned the rightful ruler of Wakanda and even briefly fought alongside the Avengers in the "Maximum Security" crossover. It was only after becoming poisoned by the Heart-Shaped Herb at the end of his rite of ascension that Killmonger's brief reign came to an end. It appears that the movie is drawing directly from this storyline.Killmonger isn't the only character to take up the mantle of Black Panther. T'Challa's sister Shuri also served in place of her brother during a period where T'Challa abdicated his throne and pursued a vendetta against Doctor Doom. During this time, T'Challa's superhuman powers and connection to the Panther god waned, even as his sister grew strong. For a time the siblings also shared the mantle and rule of Wakanda, though these days Shuri has taken on a new role as a link between the physical nation of Wakanda and its gods.

Kasper Cole became Black Panther in the early 2000s.

Towards the end of the 1998-2004 Black Panther comic, T'Challa abandoned his role and went into hiding. In his place, a police officer named Kasper Cole took up the mantle after finding one of T'Challa's discarded costumes. While lacking the superhuman powers of Black Panther, Kasper still had the benefit of a bulletproof costume and a pair of tranquilizer guns. T'Challa eventually chose to mentor his younger replacement, and these days Kasper has taken up the role of White Tiger.Interestingly, even Steve Rogers has briefly worn the Black Panther costume in Marvel's Ultimate Universe comics. Steve disguised himself as Panther in 2007's The Ultimates 3, a ruse which fit given how similar Captain America and Black Panther's powers are.

Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter , or Kicksplode on MyIGN