Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Star Winston Duke Reveals M’Baku’s Surprising Role After Surviving The Snap

The cast and crew of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever were in attendance at D23 Expo, and Winston Duke shared some interesting details about his character M’Baku. The sequel to 2018’s Black Panther debuted its first trailer at San Diego Comic-Con, showing how the Marvel Cinematic Universe will move on after the tragic death of star Chadwick Boseman. Characters like Shuri, Okoye, and M’Baku should have increased roles in Wakanda Forever, but there are still pieces of key information to learn about them post-The Snap. Winston Duke revealed what M’Baku was up to after the five-year time jump between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis spoke to Winston Duke after his appearance on the main stage at D23 Expo. The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star discussed what M’Baku thinks about Wakanda being on the global map. “I think M’Baku is forced to catch up with the times,” Winston said. “His role has changed. He survived The Snap, he is now a part of the Tribal Council so he’s more forward-facing and less insular. So he’s been forced to really be a part of the collective transparency. I think that’s a really cool thing for him and you get to see a whole new dynamic including him.”

Winston Duke also spoke about the Black Panther sequel revealing “so much more Wakanda” when it arrives in theaters in November. While Duke told Marvel.com that M’Baku is “still very honest,” he admitted that “he is no longer the insular leader, he’s learning how to move forward. So he has a very large, wide, macro lens as to what’s happening and I think we get to see more of that, and see how much that impacts him.” 

That line of thought about M’Baku’s need for a wider perspective led right to the larger view on Wakanda itself that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (and director Ryan Coogler) will offer Marvel fans.

“What I’m most excited for fans to see is how much more Wakanda there is,” Duke explained. “There’s just so much more than the first movie, and that’s exciting.” 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will introduce Tenoch Huerta as Namor the Sub-Mariner. Namor appears to be the primary antagonist of the Marvel film, as he leads Atlantis in a war against a Black Panther-less Wakanda.

What do you think of Winston Duke’s comments about M’Baku’s evolution in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. The movie premieres on November 11th.

Photo caption via 2022 Getty Images