Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Star Reveals That One of the Movie’s Best Lines Was Totally Improvised

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will definitely be remembered for several very big milestone reasons (both sad and good), but apparently one line that audiences particularly loved was totally improvised! Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Winston Duke has been interacting with Marvel fans on social media during the film’s opening weekend; in one post, Duke reveals that a line from his character, M’Baku, which got big laughs during the film was actually one he made up on the spot: 

The Bald-Headed Demon

Early on in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) and Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright) take a ceremonial retreat in order to complete their grieving ritual for King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman). During the retreat, Ramonda and Shuri are first approached by Namor (Tenoch Huerta), who lays out his ultimatum that Wakanda ally with his people or be destroyed by them. 

Queen Ramonda takes this dire news back to Wakanda’s ruling council, which includes M’Baku and General Okoye (Danai Gurira). Not surprisingly, the Wakandan council has differing opinions about what to do about Namor, with M’Baku and Okoye trading some trash-talk banter back and forth. At one point, M’Baku (clearly shook) looks at Okoye and refers to her as “you baldheaded demon!” 

M’Baku’s insult is getting a big laugh from audiences everywhere and has seemingly already become one of the more quotable lines in Black Panther 2. Turns out, it was also totally improvised: 

“The intention for Mbaku in this film is to serve as the vent for a pressure cooker,” Duke wrote, adding that the character’s place of levity is “what influenced this improvisational gem, amongst others … ‘you baldheaded demon!’”

The making of Marvel movies has become as much of a fascination as the movies themselves – so much so that Disney and Marvel Studios has been running official “making of” series alongside each Marvel project. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be a particularly powerful and poignant behind-the-scenes look, as the cast and director (Ryan Coogler) went into this project with the solemn goal of honoring the late Chadwick Boseman. That mission was at the forefront of every day of production and was definitely an emotional toll paid by those involved. That’s why moments of levity like the one above will be even more precious and important to spotlight and remember.  

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now in theaters.