Given that the Black Panther corner of the Marvel universe was arguably not one of its most well-known mythologies prior to the hero’s leap to the screen, the MCU has been free to freshen up the world of Wakanda. And while the much-missed T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) was a perfect adaptation of the superhero king, other characters were much changed — and generally improved — for the movies. Case-in-point, M’Baka (as played by Winston Duke) is a far more lovable character in the films.
As introduced in 2018’s Black Panther, M’Baku — the leader of the Jabari tribe — was initially set up as an antagonist, before he ultimately aided T’Challa in battling Killmonger and reclaiming his throne. Duke’s unexpected ally then returned for Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame before once again fighting among the good guys in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. All in all, the MCU’s M’Baku is now far-removed from his origins in the comics.
Who is M’Baku in the comics, and is he a villain?
As originally introduced in 1969’s The Avengers #62 by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, M’Baku is better known in the comics as Man-Ape. Recognized as the second-greatest Wakandan warrior — behind T’Challa himself — Man-Ape is dedicated to usurping the king’s throne and regressing the nation back to a savage state. In a dark subversion of Black Panther’s own origins, he gained his superhuman powers after murdering a white gorilla – bathing in its blood and eating its flesh.
Man-Ape has frequently come up against the Avengers as part of supervillain team the Lethal Legion, which has included another villain reimagined as a good guy in the MCU — namely, Hawkeye‘s Jack Duquesne, aka Swordsman. That isn’t to say M’Baku hasn’t had his redemptive moments in the comics as well, though. He was (bizarrely) invited to attend T’Challa’s wedding to Storm, where he drunkenly attempted to pick a fight with Spider-Man. He also defended Wakanda when multiversal villain Morlun attacked, dying in the attempt. He’s since got better, however, because comics.
As for why M’Baku was changed so drastically for the screen, producer Nate Moore has explained that it was for a very good reason. As he told Entertainment Weekly back in 2017, it was felt that his supervillain moniker could have uncomfortable connotations in a modern context so the character was retooled from top to bottom:
“Having a black character dress up as an ape, I think there’s a lot of racial implications that don’t sit well, if done wrong. But the idea that they worship the gorilla gods is interesting because it’s a movie about the Black Panther who, himself, is a sort of deity in his own right.”
Instead, Coogler drew his vision of the character from Christopher Priest’s acclaimed Black Panther run, in which M’Baku was portrayed more as a religious leader, overseeing the White Gorilla Cult. “You learn that M’Baku is essentially the head of the religious minority in Wakanda and we thought that was interesting,” Moore explained to EW. “Wakanda is not a monolithic place. They have a lot of different factions.”
To find out where M’Baku goes from here, catch him in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.