Andy Serkis Reveals How Long He Knew About Black Panther

Andy Serkis may have been among the first know Black Panther's story was coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Speaking to press on the set of Black Panther, Serkis opened up about joining the Marvel Studios team with his initial efforts coming in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Originally, he was on board to help create Ultron and the Hulk's computerized appearances based on James Spader and Mark Ruffalo's performances. The role of Black Panther nemesis Ulysses Klaue came during that process.

"Klaw appears in Age of Ultron, and the way that all happened was, they were working with The Imaginarium, which is my performance-capture studio," Serkies said. "We were all working and consulting back on Ultron, working with James Spader and Mark Ruffalo and initiating them into the process of motion-capture, because they were both using performance-capture. We were providing services for that."

"Then, Joss Whedon said, 'Hey, this is crazy, why don't you come and be in the show?'" Serkis added. "And I thought, 'Oh, alright, that'd be fun.'"

Upon accepting the role, Serkis knew he had entered a larger world fans wouldn't know existed until years later. "So that happened and then, of course, when this came along, I knew that he was part of the Black Panther story," Serkis said. "It's just really great being back."

Serkis is reprising his role of Klaw for the first time since the Avengers sequel in Black Panther, where he will terrorize Wakanda and its leader T'Challa. "He is the only person who has been into Wakanda and seen the wealth that it has and he wants to expose that," Serkis told ComicBook.com at San Diego Comic-Con, seen in the video above. "He believes them to be a hypocritical country. They're playing this kind of 'we're a third world country' card and he knows what's underlying that so he's trying to expose that."

Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman, Andy Serkis, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o, Michael B. Jordan, Angela Bassett, and Letitia Wright. It is directed by Ryan Coogler, best known for his work on Fruitvale Station and Creed. After the death of his father, the King of Wakanda, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king.

Black Panther opens in theaters on February 16, 2018, with advanced tickets available for purchase online now.