'Black Panther' Director Bugged by One Character Death

Black Panther killing one of its main cast members didn't sit well with director Ryan Coogler.

Spoilers for Black Panther follow. Major spoilers!

Before Erik Killmonger could make his way to Wakanda, he needed a bargaining chip to gain the respect of powerful Wakandans. That chip was the body of Ulysses "Klaw" Klaue, an unpredictable and fun-to-watch mercenary who was killed early in the movie. Coogler, as it turns out, didn't love having to kill the Marvel character.

"I like Klaw," Coogler told Toronto Sun. "I was bugged by having to do that. It's tough when you have to kill characters off and I really did love that character."

The desire to have had more Klaw in Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe also stems from an appreciation of the man behind the character, Andy Serkis. "I love Andy, he's a lovely person," Coogler said. "But again, it's one of those things where when you've got so many people in a movie, some of them have to go. Klaw in this movie, he's just having a good time. Every scene he's in, he's walking in like it's the best day of his life. He's got a swagger to him that's interesting and for me it was cool to see Andy act like that. It was a real pleasure."

In an interview with ComicBook.com, Black Panther executive producer Nate Moore revealed Klaw is, in fact, dead for good and fans shouldn't be expecting to see any more of him.

"[The decision] was made pretty early on because we knew ultimately that more than Ulysses Klaw, Killmonger was the main villain of the film," Moore said. "And he's actually dead. He's dead, dead. Which I think, honestly, was part of the sell for Andy in going, 'Oh, I get to play this character that gets to sort of shine very brightly and burn out quickly. Well, that's kind of fun.' And we only like to tell as much story as we have for a character and I'm not sure how much other story we would have for Klaw, but we were still lucky to have Andy involved."

Back around the time of Black Panther's theatrical release, Serkis opened up about his exit from the Marvel Cinematic Universe while talking to ComicBook.com, as well. The actor debuted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the arms and vibranium dealer in Avengers: Age of Ultron back in 2015, only to be killed off in his second film.

"I've had a tough year. I lost Caesar, I lost Snoke, and now I've lost Klaw. I am franchise free. I'm gutted, actually. I would've loved to go on," Serkis said. "But, who knows? Who knows..."

Black Panther is available on DVD, Blu-ray, and DigitalHD now. Avengers: Infinity War is now playing in theaters. Leave your questions and thoughts about Marvel's recent films in the comment section or send them to @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter!