‘Black Panther’: Killmonger Took Michael B. Jordan to a Dark Place

Michael B. Jordan will play the villain Erik Killmonger in Marvel’s Black Panther movie and the actor says that the character got into him as much as he got into the character.

Killmonger grudge against Black Panther has been highlighted in the Black Panther TV spot released on Christmas Day and in a new photo from the film. Speaking to Empire, Jordan says that Killmonger had a strong effect on his own psyche.

“It took me to a dark place,” Jordan says. “Honestly, I can’t really go through all I went through to get into it because I want to keep that close to me. But it stuck with me afterwards.”

Even so, Jordan says he “had a lot of fun on set” with co-star Chadwick Boseman.

“Chadwick’s a very talented dude,” Jordan says. “There’s a lot of physical moments and action sequences throughout this film that cause us to really challenge ourselves, and also fall deeper into character.”

Jordan also commented on the film’s overall casting.

“It’s an all-black cast for the most part,” Jordan continues, “and it’s set in Africa, but it’s universal in so many ways to everybody around the world, so I feel like it’s something that everybody can take something from.”

All of this speaks to Killmonger’s overall motivations, which Black Panther executive producer Nate Moore has elaborated on previously.

“I think Killmonger has his own opinion on how Wakanda has been run and should run,” Moore said, “and what I think Michael brings to the table is sort of a charming antagonist, who doesn’t agree with how T’Challa is running things, frankly. I think that puts T’Challa in a difficult situation. Killmonger is a voice of a different side of Wakanda.”

Black Panther currently has a ComicBook.com User Anticipation Rating of 4.15 out of 5, making it the third most anticipated upcoming comic book movie among ComicBook.com Users. Let us know how excited you are for Black Panther by giving the movie your own ComicBook.com User Anticipation Rating below.

Black Panther opens in theaters on February 16, 2018.

Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include; Avengers: Infinity War on May 4, 2018, Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6, 2018, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.