mcu m’baku is honestly one of the greatest aspects of black panther. he respects and honors the customs of his people and of the crown. he was defeated and accepted the outcome, and even when he was offered the throne, he honorably declined because t’challa is still alive. When ramonda, shuri and nakia give t’challa the heart shaped herb, he turned around…. this has to do with the crown of wakanda, and it’s not something he should be privy too, and he respectfully turns away (unlike ross who was wide mouth gaping at the ritual of it all).
ALSO t’challa asks him to look after his mother, and he promises that no harm will come to her, and YOU BELIEVE HIM BECAUSE HE’S ALL ABOUT HONOR…. BUT he makes it clear that he’s doing this out of respect for Wakanda and the crown, not really out of respect to t’challa himself. He also doesn’t waste an opportunity to remind t’challa that this is the first time the king has come to the Jabaris in years, that his tribe is often dismissed and overlooked by the rest of the nation.
To find M’Baku’s voice, he researched and imitated Nigerian accents, further separating the character from the South African-inspired T’Challa. It’s just one of many ways the Jabari differ from the city-based Wakandans, who largely worship the panther god Bast. “The panther is sleek, the panther is sneaky, the panther is covert—meanwhile, the gorilla will show up and bang on his chest and make noises to warn you about what is about to happen if you continue to cross the line,” Duke says. “We don’t hide, we don’t sneak. We come through the front door.” (x)
I love this detail! You can all be considered Wakandan, but there is clearly a perceived hierarchy and a tier of importance here, an “othering” of people despite the same allegiance to your country, and I love that M’Baku sticks it to T’Challa this way. And also to to Everett Ross. No fucks given there- About the Jabaris, Winston Duke says…
“They haven’t been affected by colonialism and all the narratives that are associated with developing a sense of inferiority and people comparing them to animals”[…] “To them, this is just who they pray to, and they find their strength and agency in this religion. So being a bit gorilla-influenced was a sense of pride for them.”
He grunts at Ross to silence him. Ross is kind of an interloper. He has no say in Wakandan traditions, and has no place in his court. Even if Ross thinks of M’Baku as an animal, it literally means nothing because his opinion does not matter.
Later when M’Baku and the Jabari show up, it was in the nick of time but also it’s him announcing that they will want a greater say in the future of their country. And you’re hinted that this might be the case because M’baku is in the last council scene next to T’Challa.
This is not to say that M’Baku is without fault. He scoffs at Shuri and is dismissive of her ability and ridicules T’Challa for putting a 16 year old girl in charge of the technological future of the country. It will be very interesting to see how he and Shuri interact in future installments. I WOULD REALLY REALLY LIKE TO SEE THIS, especially since they both got jokes, generally at the expense of the colonizer. It is not like tradition and technology cannot co-exist, although finding that balance can be extremely difficult. I think this is a really interesting sub-theme that runs through the movie.
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