Winston Duke, the actor most notably known for playing M’Baku in Black Panther (2018), wants to be Black Panther 2‘s main villain in the new film. With writer/director Ryan Coogler at the helm of the latest installment of the Marvel film and the original movie becoming a massive success, BlackPanther 2 won’t make its way to the silver screen until May 2022. With the writing process being a tedious one and having to live up to the first T’Challa-centered film, Duke is publicly suggesting that M’Baku should serve as the new film’s antagonist in a brand new interview with Screen Rant. Liliane Lathan/Getty Images
Despite the fact that Duke’s character, M’Baku reached a temporary alliance with Wakanda’s king, T’Challa, during the original film, Duke feels that he has the range to become a mainstay villain throughout the second installment of the entire feature film. During the interview, Duke affirmed his reasoning stating:
(M’Baku) is a hero, but he has so much going on. I think what makes a really great villain is that they have the power of seeing things their own way, and they can define their own circumstances.
The 6’5 Trinbagonian–American actor then went on to praise the complexities of other MCU villains, as he continued:
“And that’s what’s really cool about all the MCU villains so far as well. Loki always sees things his own way, and he chooses when he’s going to be an ally or an antagonist. Thanos always had the power of self-definition. That’s his greatest strength. It wasn’t the rings, it wasn’t his superpower or the fighting. It’s that he made his mind up and said, ‘This is how I define justice.’
Because he wasn’t a bad guy; he’s just a dude who was seeking ultimate justice and balance. That’s not bad. But he defined it himself, and all the really great villains that Marvel interrogates always have that ability, so they can go anywhere.”
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For those of you unaware, M’Baku is the leader of the renegade Jabari Tribe who chose to shun Wakanda’s technological society and have a religious reverence for gorillas. Their primitive way of living has allowed them to adapt to the mountainous climate of Wakanda’s natural climate.
Upon its release, Black Panther became the highest-grossing superhero film of all-time raking in over a $1 billion globally within weeks of its release. One year later, Marvel shattered their own record bringing in over $2.7 billion in worldwide revenue for their Avengers: End Game film.
Only time will tell what Marvel, Ryan Coogler, and Disney have in store for Black Panther II. Until then, the mass will have to patiently wait until 2022 to see what’s in store for the highly-popularized comic book film franchise.