Klaue Has A Vendetta Against Black Panther

Andy Serkis says Ulysses Klaue will have personal reasons for going against Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa in Black Panther. While fans will really get to know Serkis' take on the iconic comic book villain for the first time in Black Panther, though, it will not be the first time that viewers have seen Klaue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Klaue was introduced briefly in Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age of Ultron as an arms dealer capable of giving Ultron the vibranium he needed before the robot went on to cut Klaue's arm off in a fit of rage. His exit from Ultron left the character's future in a surprisingly ambiguous place, with many wondering where the character's trajectory might take him next.

Now, fans will catch back up with Klaue again in Black Panther, as an arms dealer with a sonic disruptor where his original arm used to be. And while a majority of Black Panther's first teaser trailer was mostly dedicated to just introducing the film's characters, Serkis' Klaue made a big impression, thanks to both his inside knowledge of the traditionally secret nation of Wakanda and his joyfully crazed nature.

During a recent interview with Comic Book, Serkis revealed that Klaue's motivations in Black Panther revolve mostly around him seeing Wakanda as a "hypocritical" nation, selling itself as something it is not to the rest of the world:

“He is the only person who has been into Wakanda and seen the wealth that it has and he wants to expose that. He believes them to be a hypocritical country. They’re playing this kind of ‘we’re a third world country’ card and he knows what’s underlying that so he’s trying to expose that. He is the bringer-down of governments. He collaborates. He’s an arms dealer. He knows how to play people and he has a personal vendetta against T’Challa as well.”

Despite Black Panther's impressive ensemble featuring a number of villains from the comic books - including Michael B. Jordan's Erik Killmonger and Winston Duke's M'Baku - it's been reiterated a number of times already that Serkis' Klaue will be the film's main antagonistic force. And Serkis' comments about a personal vendetta with T'Challa hint at an interesting backstory for the villainous character, one that may feed directly into the legacy of T'Challa's royal Wakanda family, something Boseman's hero is said to already be struggling with by the time the film begins.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has often been called out for its string of lackluster villains, but it's looking more and more like Marvel Studios' next few films may be turning that around. Not only does Cate Blanchett's Hela promise to be a force to be reckoned with in Thor: Ragnarok, but Josh Brolin's Thanos has been set up as the end-all-be-all of Marvel villains. And if the Black Panther footage that was shown at SDCC is any indication of the Klaue's strength as a villain too, it looks as though he may just be the best villain that Black Panther fans could have asked to be at the center of the character's first solo film.