Who is Man Ape?
Man Ape is a Wakandian villain that frequently battles the hero the Black Panther.. Man Ape is domestic rival for the the thrown of Wakanda and challenges the path that the Black Panther has taken the nation. Man Ape is also a reoccurring villain of the Avengers. Man Ape will appear in the MCU film Black Panther and is set to be played by actor Winston Duke.
First Appearance: Avengers #62 (1969)
Man Ape News:
Who is the Black Panther?
Bio:
M'Baku is a great warrior in Wakanda 2nd only to T'Challa the Black Panther. When T'Challa begins to drastically modernize the country of Wakands. M'Baku believes the country is losing its identify and he wants to T'Challa to stop. However, T'Challa is if anything accelerating the level of change. Disenchanted with T'Challa's rule M'Baku begins building a small army of allies who want to return Wakanda to its traditional primitive state.
When T'Challa leaves the country on Avengers business M'Baku sizes the opportunity. He recreates the forbidden White Gorilla cult. Then he hunts and eats one of Wakanda white gorillas in a ritual. The ritual gives M'Baku the strength of a gorilla. He then changes his name to Man Ape.
When the Black Panther returns Man Ape attacks him and defeats the hero. However, the Black Panther is saved when the giant totem he is tied to falls and seemingly kills Man Ape.
Man Ape is brought back to life and continues to be a thorn in the side of the Black Panther. He joins numerous villainous groups like the Lethal Legion.
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| Man Ape in the Lethal Legion |
Despit their differences he is invited to attend T'Challa's wedding to the Ororo Munroe the X-Woman Storm. At the wedding Man Ape gets drunk on Skotch and attempts to pick a fight with Spider-Man. Spider-Man does not take his bait. Man Ape is later seen killed by the devourer of totems, Morlun. He has subsequently been revealed to be alive but this has not been explained.
Powers:
Man Ape is a very gifted warrior with the strength of a white gorilla.
Importance of Man Ape:
Man Ape is the differing opinion on changes within Wakanda. While Klaw is the catalyst for the changes in the country, Man Ape is back seat driver. He is a bit like the guy who always thinks he could do better than the leader.
Man Ape is also a very strong and powerful foe who actually beats the Black Panther numerous times but never manages to kill him.
MCU:
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| Winston Duke to play Man Ape |
Actor Winston Duke is set to play Man Ape in the film Black Panther (Release date Feb 2018). Winston is known for his role Dominic in Person of Interest. He also had a role in the show Messangers playing the character Zahir Zakaria.
Winston is a pretty big actor standing at 6 '6 1/2" and certainly fits the bill for the physically imposing Man Ape.
I think Man Ape should look larger than Black Panther to present a physically imposing challenge.
I tend to think Man Ape is not going to be a major villain in the film and may only be introduced in the film as another powered person in Wakanda.
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| Actor Winston Duke to play Man Ape |
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