I did this the other day for our piece on the Soul Stone, and I’m going to do it again today.
First things first, I have to give y’all fair warning. There are tons of Black Panther spoilers within this speculative piece. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, you have until the other side of this awesome photo of Josh Brolin as Thanos to GTFO. This post could very well ruin the movie for you.
Okay – you’re here. Awesome. Let’s do this.
So, it may seem a little presumptuous of me to just assume there’s going to be a Black Panther sequel all willy nilly, but come on. You don’t make $235 million on opening weekend and then ride off into the sunset. This looks like it could be a huge cash cow for Marvel, so you better damn well expect a sequel.
One word I used to describe the movie was ‘rich.’ And part of the richness of Black Panther was the story beneath the story. There’s a perfect setup for the sequel right in front of our eyes.
Winston Duke’s M’Baku stole the scene when the group traveled into the cold, snowy mountains where the Jabari Tribe resides. He sure looked like a hero, keeping T’Challa safe, allowing him to be revived, and eventually sending his army into battle to aid the Dora Milaje in defending Wakanda from the treacherous Erik Killmonger.
But, M’Baku is far from an ally to the Black Panther in the rich (there’s that word again) mythology of the Black Panther comic books. No, on the contrary, he’s actually one of Black Panther’s longest running, most persistent foes: the Man-Ape.
Man-Ape is pretty notorious for constantly trying to wrestle the throne of Wakanda away from the Black Panther. We even got a subtle nod to this at the beginning of the Black Panther movie, when M’Baku challenged T’Challa’s claim to the throne.
M’Baku was defeated, but T’Challa spared his life, citing, “your people need you.”
I thought that was going to be the end of it, but later in the film, our heroes found themselves fighting alongside the Jabari Tribe.
But, there’s one thing that connects M’Baku’s villainous origins to the movies. In the comics, Man-Ape wasn’t too pleased with the Black Panther letting all the world know the true nature of Wakanda.
The relationship was already portrayed as tense in the film, so I can only imagine it’ll spark outright battle moving forward. Why? Because at the end of Black Panther, T’Challa stands in front of world leaders and decries that Wakanda will no longer operate in the shadows. They will begin using their resources to help aid the world. M’Baku ain’t gonna be too happy about that.
And, there you have it – the Man-Ape story is ready to go. Just plug and play, Marvel. Let’s do this.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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