‘Black Panther’ adds Winston Duke as Man-Ape

Marvel Studios have added another cast member for Black Panther, another villain. Person of Interest vet Winston Duke signed on to play M’Baku – otherwise known as Man-Ape.

Deadline notes that the character was “Created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, Man-Ape/M’Baku debuted in Avengers #62 in 1969. Once one the greatest soldiers serving Wakanda – the fictional, hyper-advanced African nation ruled by Black Panther – M’Baku joined the outlawed White Gorilla cult, gaining superpowers with which he attempted to take over the kingdom for himself.”

M’Baku is considered one of the biggest villains opposing Black Panther other than Ulysses Klaw, played by Andy Serkis in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

In addition to playing Dominc on Person of Interest, Duke has roles on Major Crimes and The Messengers.

Duke joins Michael B. Jordan (Creed, The Fantastic Four) who was cast Killmonger and Serkis is indeed confirmed to be reprising Klaw.

“It sounds like a lot of bad guys, though Marvel tends to play a long game so it’s a solid bet we’ll see M’Baku in his role as Wakkandan soldier, before his turn to evil,” adds Deadline.

Along with Serkis and Jordan, Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman in the title role alongside Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira. Ryan Coogler is directing and co-writing the script with Joe Robert Cole.

Black Panther arrives in theaters on February 16, 2018.