Black Panther: 10 fun facts that will blow your mind
8. M’Baku
One of the best characters in the Black Panther film is M’Baku. The character is tons of fun and is played by the charming and hilarious Winston Duke. In the movie, the character begins as an enemy of T’Challa, who challenges the prince for the throne and the Black Panther title.
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T’Challa wins the fight and further supplants himself as the Black Panther. When Killmonger takes over Wakanda, Ramonda, Shuri, and Nakia escape and go to M’Baku for help. At first, he refuses and rubs their noses in their defeat. Nakia then shows him the heart-shaped herb.
After the true monarch is revived, M’Baku agrees to help and notably makes a lighthearted joke during the reunion. Once Killmonger is killed by T’Challa, M’Baku and his tribe become allies to the Golden tribe. As time goes on, the bond between T’Challa and M’Baku becomes a close one. In Avengers: Infinity War — which picks up two years after the events of Black Panther — M’Baku refers to the king as “brother.”
In the comics, M’Baku is the supervillain known as Man-Ape. He was a Human Mutate who wanted the throne of Wakanda for himself. Unlike the film version, M’Baku isn’t nearly as friendly. Ultimately, the producers of the film didn’t want to add racist characterizations to the story, so they decided not to use the moniker.