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Who are the Midnight Angels?
The Midnight Angels are villains of the Marvel hero the Black Panther. Ayo and Aneka are former members of Black Panther's loyal personal guard the Dora Milaje who have rebelled. The are not evil or out for world domination but have a major political disagreement with Black Panther and his rule. The characters are in the film Black Panther. According to Variety there was a scene in which a relationship between the characters was hinted at but had since been removed sparking some controversy (See bottom of page in MCU section for more on this).
First Appearance: Aneka -Black Panther #8 (Vol 5-2009) Ayo- Ultimates #1 (Vol 2 -2016)
Real Name: Ayo and Aneka
Alias: Midnight Angels
Midnight Angel News:
A new Trailer for Black Panther highlights Wakanda and in particular the Dora Milaje:
Bio:
Ayo and Aneka were members of the Dora Milaje the highly trained female warriors of the Black Panther. Aneka was a highly decorated member and combat trainer for the Dora Milaje. She was personally tasked by T'Challa to develop fighting styles to battle robots as the nation of Wakanda prepared for the Doom War. Fighting together Ayo and Aneka fell in love despite there being strong prejudice against their relationship. The two slowly grew disgruntled with the rule of the Black Panther and highly jaded after the fall of the Golden City.
During a raid in a Wakandan village Aneka kills a tribal Chieftain who had been abusing women. Queen Ramonda held trial over Aneka. Ayo came to Aneka's defense and explained how the death of the Chieftain was necessary. Queen Ramonda sympathized with her predicament but ultimately found her guilty and sentenced her to death. She was taken away to Fort Hahn to await her sentence.
Ayo was unwilling to allow Aneka to die so she stole two prototype Wakandan armor suits called Midnight Angel suits. She uses one of the suits to free Aneka. While freed both women discuss how they are now dead, knowing that they will be hunted down for betraying the king and stealing the prototype suits. They decide that they should act as dead women should. This means creating a rebellion to take down the Wakandan monarchy.
A monarchy they no longer believe in.
The pair leave with the high tech armors and form a rebellion that initially includes only a few members of the Dora Milaje but continues to grow as disorder in Wakanda mounts. The two are still reluctant to join with the other resistance group known as "The People".
The pair next raid a group of bandits on the northern border of Wakanda where they kill a group of bandits who were kidnapping and raping women. They tell the freed women that everyone deserves better in Wakanda.
In the series World of Wakanda more backstory is provided for various Black Panther characters including the Midnight Angels. Ayo and Aneka are depicted training to enter the Dora Milaje. They are also shown entering a slummish area as part of a Dora Milaje strike force and capturing a woman with blue skin (Perhaps a Wakandan Mutant or Inhuman.) The series then has a flash of the villains Zenzi's childhood. She is apparently a lone survivor of a slaughter of a military force. She uses her power to cause the military soldiers to shoot themselves and flees.
Powers:
Ayo and Aneka are highly trained in African martial arts being former members of the elite Dora Milaje.
The pair also have a variety of high tech powers due to the armored Midnight Angel suit.
- Super Strength
- Super Armor
- Super Speed
- Pulse beams
Black Panther Store:
Toylab is a member of the Amazon Affiliate program which allows to find awesome deals on Black Panther merchandise and link them directly on our site.
Comics and Trades:
I normally only recommend 4 trades from Amazon however I have linked directly to 8 here. I highly recommend Don McGregor's Black Panther Jungle Action the 1973series which fleshes out Wakanda. I grew up on and love Christopher Priest's Black Panther that modernized the character. The recent Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet is also phenonemal, while being very different from all other comics.
Toys and Merchandise:
Here are my favorite Black Panther Toys. The Mask, Funko, Marvel Legends figure and the Lego Set from Captain America: Civil War. This will be updated once the Black Panther film comes closer.
MCU:
Ayo is played by Actress Florence Kasumba in the MCU.
Captain America: Civil War:
Ayo appears in the film Captain America: Civil War she is part of the Wakandan body guards protecting T'Challa. She confronts Black Widow who is standing in front of one of Wakanda's cars and she says: "Move. Or you will be moved"T'Challa jokingly remarks that he would enjoy seeing that fight.
Black Panther:
Ayo is in the Black Panther film however her exact role is not known. There are multiple named Dora Milaje.
Ayo is shown holding off warriors. These warriors could be from Erik Killmonger or from another group. She is also shown standing next to T'Challa in a scene where Ulyssess S. Klaue is being interogated by SHIELD agent Everett Ross. While T'Challa and Ayo are behind a one way mirror, Klaue indicates that he knows they are there.
Scene Cut Controversy
A reporter for Vanity Fair reporter named Joanna Robinson mentioned there was a scene between Okoye and Ayo in which a romantic relationship was hinted at in an early showing of the film. However, the scene is not in the final cut. This has sparked some controversy about cutting out an LGBTQ scene.
Black Panther Screenwriter Joe Robert Cole weighed in on the controversy basically saying that if the scene did exist it was small and not part of a major theme of the film. Joe was quoted as saying:
"I know that there were quite a few conversations around different things, different directions with different characters, and characters that we may have," ... "We thought, ‘Well, maybe we’ll work it this way with an arc or work it that way with an arc.’"
When asked specifically about the scene he responded:
"The scene you’re talking about, I don’t remember," ... "I can’t remember the exact exchange you’re talking about, but I think it was really brief. I’m not sure. I know that it was not – there wasn’t some major theme through that we were looking to explore with that in terms of the story. We didn’t like, pull out a full thread of some theme. But your friend quite possibly could be right, or I’m maybe having a brain fart here and just can’t remember."
More Black Panther:
Black Panther: News, Toys, and Media
