Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Winston Duke teases the transformed role of the Jabari tribe and his own character of M’Baku in the upcoming MCU sequel. In the world of Black Panther, the Jabari tribe consists of Wakandan people who, after disapproving of the use of vibranium, separate themselves from the country's mainstream society. Duke plays the current leader of the Jabari tribe, a role he reprised in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
M’Baku is back for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, director Ryan Coogler's follow-up to his immensely successful MCU movie from 2018. The first Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer dropped during Marvel Studios' San Diego Comic-Con presentation, giving the first look of the new Wakanda in the absence of T’Challa. Duke appears in the trailer for a brief second, but with very little context given to him, the extent of his role in the sequel is unclear from this footage alone.
Screen Rant caught up with Duke at SDCC, and the actor teases a transformed M’Baku in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. According to Duke, M’Baku is now fully Wakandan again in the Black Panther sequel, suggesting this development was already foreshadowed in Infinity War and Endgame, which "showed that the Jabari are now full-fledged members of Wakanda." Check out the full quote from Duke below:
I think the events of Infinity War and Endgame really showed that the Jabari are now full-fledged members of Wakanda. M'Baku was a part of every single conflict; every event, and I don't think they could really exist in isolation anymore. They have open borders, and we saw that M'Baku was really Wakandan. His entire community has expanded.
Now we get to see how he figures out a brand-new world for Wakanda; a brand-new world like we've had to experience. A world post-COVID; a world post-pandemic or mid-pandemic. Much like us, he's going through a lot of the same things and figuring out how to move forward. This movie really deals and dives into that a lot.
While the specific reading of the Jabari as “full-fledged members of Wakanda” based on both Infinity War and Endgame may be new, the fact that the social workings of the country are being rearranged should come as no surprise. Both T’Challa and W’Kabi, vital leaders in the first Black Panther, will not be present in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. T’Challa actor Chadwick Boseman tragically died of cancer in 2020, and W’Kabi actor Daniel Kaluuya won't return for Black Panther 2 following scheduling conflicts with Jordan Peele’s Nope. These losses necessitate a “brand-new world for Wakanda,” and it makes sense why M’Baku might have to be more fully a part of this world in their absence.
Duke provides a good initial tease for M’Baku’s role in the upcoming Black Panther film, but still leaves a lot up to the audience to guess. The teaser for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever showed Wakanda’s female leaders flourishing, a logical progression given the strength and complexity of Black Panther’s female characters the first time around. Exactly how M’Baku fits into this social scheme still remains to be seen. As more trailers get released for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, perhaps M’Baku’s transformed role may become more clear.
