Following the defeat of Loki and end of the Secret Wars, Black Panther and Shuri invite the Avengers to a party in Wakanda. However, after an attack by Atlanteans, the brother and sister find themselves on a secret quest to stop a new incarnation of the Shadow Council, including Black Panther's teacher N'Jadaka, Attuma's former general Tiger Shark, and shapeshifter Princess Zanda. T'Challa tries to keep this mission a secret, telling none of his fellow Avengers but Captain America. With help from his brother White Wolf, he discovers M'Baku and some of Wakanda's civilians to be part of the Shadow Council, while also gaining an unlikely ally in Baron Zemo, whose father led a previous incarnation of the Shadow Council. N'Jadaka in his Killmonger alias gains allies in Ulysses Klaue and Madame Masque.

The artifact the Shadow Council is after is the Crown, which contains a pocket dimension allowing one to connect to and analyze the memories of the deceased. Zemo tries to take it for himself but it becomes unstable due to its distance from Wakanda. Captain America sacrifices himself, using his shield to absorb the blast, leading an arriving Black Widow to accuse Panther of killing Cap. With the Avengers and the world now against him, T'Challa seeks to find Killmonger and stop the Shadow Council, getting a captured Klaw's help. He, Shuri and Klaw enter the Hall of Royals, a burial ground for Wakanda's deceased royalty, where T'Challa researches the Shadow Council's plan through the memories of his grandfather T'Chanda, ancestor Yemandi, and Wakanda's founder Bashenga. In the process, he's attacked by Bashenga's sister Bask, possessed by the core of the Vibranium asteroid, and also discovers Captain America to have been absorbed into the Crown, pulling both of them out of its pocket dimension.

Knowing what he knows now and with Cap still alive, T'Challa tries to contact the Avengers, who have traveled to Atlantis so that Killmonger and Tiger Shark can be imprisoned there. Cap and T'Challa learn that since Secret Wars' end, Black Widow has been held captive by the Shadow Council and replaced by Princess Zanda. As the Avengers conference with Attuma and his daughter Lady Elanna, Zanda hides a bomb in Tony's armor. Black Panther and White Wolf attempt to reveal the truth to the skeptical Avengers, however, are unable to prevent an ensuing conflict which ends in Hawkeye injured, Attuma dead, and Elanna plotting war on the surface world with a betrayed Tiger Shark as her ally. To stop the ensuing conflict, the Avengers, having come to forgive T'Challa, search for information on Widow's whereabouts.

Black Widow is found, but T'Challa discovers that the Shadow Council has woken Bask, who defeats him in a duel to become the new ruler of Wakanda. Bask then has a beam fired on Atlantis causing a war between Wakanda and Atlantis. During the battle, Black Panther faces Killmonger and defeats him once and for all, and Shuri convinces Bask to not be obsessive about protecting her people. After this, Bask allows Black Panther to use the Crown to defeat Elanna before Wakanda is sunk beneath the water, while she sacrifices herself to destroy the laser. She passes on to the next life naming Shuri her successor while the Crown is destroyed as a side-effect. Black Panther then defeats Tiger Shark after he takes White Wolf's life. While Wakanda takes Tiger Shark as a prisoner, Black Panther allows Elanna to take Killmonger as her prisoner. With Shuri watching over Wakanda and most of the Shadow Council defeated, Black Panther tracks Madame Masque to a HYDRA base where he reunites with the Avengers. When Madame Masque attacks, she captures Iron Man and Red Skull causing the Avengers and the HYDRA operatives to work together. After healing Hawkeye's hands, Madame Masque sees that Black Panther is right about his claims and ends her own life. With Hawkeye having forgiven Black Panther, he rejoins the Avengers and the Avengers are told by Black Panther that he knows a place that they can dine in.