Winston Duke, who will reprise his MCU role as M’Baku in Black Panther: Wakanda Forevershared his thoughts on Marvel villains.
Winston Duke made his big screen debut in 2018 in Marvel’s Black Pantherin which he first played the chief of the Jabari tribe of Wakanda opposite Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa and Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger.
Black Panther‘s Killmonger quickly received praise from fans as a villain with a sympathetic cause, being driven to take extreme action against the racial injustice he saw in the world. Apparently, Winston Duke agrees with fans that these MCU villains aren’t villains at all.
In a recent interview with Collider, Winston Duke said he never thinks of MCU villains as villains, just people with different purposes. The actor promised that more of that moral complexity would be on display in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Duke said he always views Marvel villains simply as “antagonists” rather than villains. While Killmonger is Black Panther‘s most obvious example, he also nods to his own character M’Baku as an example. While initially antagonistic to T’Challa’s claim to the throne of Wakanda, M’Baku eventually joins forces with his enemy to protect the entire world.
Speaking of Marvel villains, Winston Duke said:
“I never think of Marvel villains as villains. They’re all so complex that I always call them antagonists. They just want different things, and they’ll go against our ‘heroes’ to get what they want. And Marvel done such a good job of making their antagonists so palatable and worthy of redemption. M’Baku understands the complexity of the situation. That way his mind is always open and it always works. I’m so glad people see the complexity inside this film.
Following the events of Black Panther, M’Baku seems to have aligned himself and his tribe with the rest of Wakanda. He was seen fighting alongside T’Challa against the forces of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. However, whether he remains an ally of the throne or attempts to seize power again in wakanda forever that remains to be seen.
Here is the synopsis of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever:
“In Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba), fight to protect their nation from world powers intervening in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and chart a new course for the kingdom of Wakanda.
Directed by Ryan Coogler from a script he co-wrote with Joe Robert Cole, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever stars Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman and Angela Bassett.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters on November 11, 2022. Stay tuned for all the latest news on the upcoming film and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.
Source: Collider
