As Nguyen put it: Black Panther, Wakandan king, as a white/green card that cares about lands, cares about creatures coming into play [was an effort to] represent the leadership of this character, the connection to the land, the connection to the super-valuable resource Vibranium
But on the flipside, being able to occasionally play on the front foot without actually committing our own cards or mana can be very valuable for a deck that might otherwise not feel safe doing things on its own turn
There's also a cute Scooby Doo reference (MTG Universes Beyond set incoming?) and a magnifying glass treatment that's used for story spotlight cards
A 120-damage attack 'Mega Thunderbolt' causes you to discard all Pikachu's energy, and the Celebration ability demands that every player clap their hands and then draw a card
Recently, a player mentioned on MTG head designer Mark Rosewaters Blogatog page that they longed for a rules change to make these types of cards work in Commander
So, a deal was forged: For each trip, we would get something new to keep us busy