Who is Marvel's Goddess Bast? Exploring origins as she is set to appear in 'Thor: Love and Thunder'

The Panther Goddess Bast is all set to make her first appearance in the upcoming film Thor: Love and Thunder. The Panther Goddess, to be played by Asokia Sabet, was featured in the new look for Thor: Love and Thunder, which also featured Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson as Mighty Thor and Valkyrie.

Bast's inclusion in Thor: Love and Thunder makes sense given the film's portrayal of gods struggling to stay alive. With Moon Knight also delving into the Egyptian Gods and the Enneads, it seemed only natural that she be introduced soon.

So, with that being stated, let's look at the Panther Goddess' origins and what it implies for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the future.

Asokia Sabet will portray her in Thor: Love and Thunder (Image via Twitter)

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Exploring the origins of the Panther Goddess Bast as she makes her debut in Thor: Love and Thunder

Still from Thor: Love and Thunder with the Panther Goddess in the Frame (Image via Marvel Studios)

Bast, one of the oldest Enneads, is an immortal being who also happens to be the Panther Goddess and daughter of Ra, Egyptian deity of the Sun. Bast has assumed multiple forms over the centuries. Her children live in the city of Bastet as Panthers, but with the help of the Magical Bast Gem, they can transform into humans as well.

Wakanda was home to various human tribes 10,000 years ago. One day, a meteorite with a metal capable of absorbing sound and energy crash landed in the country. The metal turned out to be Vibranium, prompting one of the tribes commanded by Bashenga to explore it.

After reaching the site, Bashenga decided that the meteor would help with the creation of weapons and decided to use it for battle.However, the meteorite emitted an energy that transformed humans into demons.

Witnessing this catastrophic turn of events, Bashenga prayed to the Panther Goddess Bast for power and to save his people. Bast then made Bashenga his avatar, making him the first Black Panther of Wakanda.

The Panther Goddess in the comics is also a part of Wakanda's pantheon, Orisha. She resides alongside Thoth, Kokou, Mujaji, Ptah and Nyami. Together, the group also fought the villainous group the Originators and banished them to the Nether-Realms.

Bast is also included in the Egyptian Pantheon as well. She was a goddess of pleasure, dance, and music who was worshiped in the city of Bubastis. It also became customary to bury mummified cats in the Bast sanctuary. She is also related to Khonshu (Marc Spector's Moon Knight avatar) and Sekhmet.

However, in the original Egyptian history, she was originally represented as a lioness and later as a domestic cat. In the comics, she is largely responsible for the origins of the Black Panther. She bestows power upon someone and allows them to use it.

T'Challa in the Marvel Cinematic Universe initially did not believe in her until he met his father in the Ancestral Plane. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has made passing references to her, but has never explicitly depicted her.

Bast's first appearance was in the opening scene of Black Panther. When the narrative of the Black Panther is presented at the beginning, the Panther Goddess is shown as a panther. T'Challa would then bring her up again when explaining his culture.

With her appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder, we can certainly expect her to appear more now that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is also coming out this year. It appears that Marvel is setting her up in this film to tell more stories with her down the line.

You can catch the Panther Goddess in action when Thor: Love and Thunder releases in cinemas on July 8, 2022.