Black Panther Star Wants M'Baku to Be the Villain in the Sequel

Marvel fans know that a sequel to Black Panther is set to be landing in theaters in 2022 and, while we might not know what the adventure has in store for audiences, star Winston Duke thinks that his character M'Baku would make the perfect foil for T'Challa in the upcoming film. When audiences first met the character in the 2018 film, he served as an antagonist to the titular character, only for the events of the film to force them to set aside their differences to fight for a common good. Duke pointed out that this moral pendulum could just as easily swing the other way in a new film.

"[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," Duke shared with ScreenRant. "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."

He added, "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."

It's hard to deny how well Duke encapsulates what draws so many people to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Many of the conflicts that arise aren't due to an objective right and an objective wrong, but rather a conflict of justice. One of the series' most compelling villains has been Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who makes his nefarious scheming quite evident, though his charm still earns him legions of fans. It's that ability to convince audiences to root for him that has allowed him to evolve over the past decade from a villain into a reluctant hero.

Similarly, MCU fans were divided back in 2016 with the release of Captain America: Civil War, as characters who were deemed "heroes" in all previous adventures had a conflict of interest, resulting in a battle between them about what the correct path of enforcing justice around the world would be.

Stay tuned for details on the Black Panther sequel.

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