Man-Ape

Man-Ape
Artwork from Black Panther #49.
Art by Sal Velluto.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceThe Avengers #62
(March 1969)[1]
Created byRoy Thomas
John Buscema
In-story information
Alter egoM'Baku
SpeciesHuman mutate
Team affiliationsLethal Legion
Masters of Evil
Villains for Hire
PartnershipsGrim Reaper
Saboteur
Notable aliasesWhite Gorilla
Abilities
  • Superhuman strength, agility, stamina and durability
  • Expert hand to hand combatant

Man-Ape (M'Baku) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, the character first appeared in The Avengers #62 (March 1969). Man-Ape is depicted as a frequent adversary of the superhero Black Panther.[2]

Man-Ape has made scattered appearances on animated television series and video games. Winston Duke portrays a variation of the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), and the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday (2026).

Publication history

Man-Ape first appeared in The Avengers #62 (March 1969). He was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema.[3] He appears again in The Avengers #78 (July 1970), West Coast Avengers #1 (September 1984), and The Vision and the Scarlet Witch vol. 2 #2 (November 1985).

Fictional character biography

M'Baku was born in Wakanda. He became one of Wakanda's greatest warriors, second only to Black Panther.[4] He plotted to usurp the throne of Wakanda with the help of the outlawed rival White Gorilla Cult and return Wakanda to a primitive state.[5]

M'Baku becomes a renegade and gains superhuman powers by killing a white gorilla, bathing in its blood, and eating its flesh, taking the alias of Man-Ape.[4] He battles Black Panther and is believed to be killed when the Panther Totem that he bound Black Panther to crumbled and buries him instead. He is revived by his aide N'Gamo and goes to America to battle the Avengers.[6][4]

He allies himself with the original Lethal Legion made up of Grim Reaper, Living Laser, Power Man (Erik Josten), and Swordsman. He is the first member met by the Avengers. He attacks Captain America, but is beaten back by the rest of the Avengers. He then captures the Black Panther's girlfriend Monica Lynne, binding her hand and foot with metal clamps. Black Panther is lured into a trap and knocked out by an exploding dummy of Lynne. He is chained up and meets the other members. The Legion straps Black Panther and Lynne to chairs before leaving, though he is able to escape and contact the other members. The Legion is defeated by the Avengers after Vision overcomes Power Man and frees the other members. Black Panther banishes Man-Ape from Wakanda on order of execution if he returns.[4]

Man-Ape is apparently killed by Morlun while defending his people from Morlun's attack. Before his apparent death, he sends an envoy to Wakanda to warn them of the approaching danger. Man-Ape later appears alive as a member of Purple Man's Villains for Hire.[4]

Powers and abilities

The Man-Ape gained superhuman powers by consuming the flesh of a sacred white gorilla and bathing in white gorilla blood, enchanting him through the mystical transference of the abilities of the rare Wakandan white gorilla. M'Baku's mystically augmented powers include superhuman strength, speed, agility, stamina and durability equal to that of the mystical Wakandan white gorilla.[4]

He has extensive formal military training in hand-to-hand combat from the Wakandan Royal Militia.

Reception

Accolades

  • In 2018, ComicBook.com ranked Man-Ape 3rd in their "8 Best Black Panther Villains" list[7] and included him in their "7 Great Villains for Black Panther 2" list.[8]
  • In 2020, Comic Book Resources (CBR) ranked Man-Ape 2nd in their "Marvel: Ranking Black Panther's Rogues Gallery" list.[9]
  • In 2022, Screen Rant included Man-Ape in their "15 Most Powerful Black Panther Villains" list.[10]
  • In 2022, CBR ranked Man-Ape 3rd in their "10 Most Iconic Black Panther Villains" list.[11]

In other media

Television

Film

M'Baku appears in films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), portrayed by Winston Duke.[13] This version is the leader of the renegade Jabari Tribe, who shun Wakanda's technological society and have a religious reverence for gorillas.[14][15] M'Baku is introduced in Black Panther (2018), and makes subsequent appearances in Avengers: Infinity War (2018),[16] Avengers: Endgame (2019),[17] and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).[18] Duke will reprise his role as M'Baku in Avengers: Doomsday (2026).[19]

Video games

References

  1. ↑ Conroy, Mike (2004). 500 Comicbook Villains. Collins & Brown. ISBN 1-84340-205-X.
  2. ↑ Wells, John (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 270. ISBN 978-1605490557.
  3. ↑ DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 229. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 C. B. R. Staff (March 4, 2018). "M'Baku: 15 Things Fans Never Knew About Black Panther's Man-Ape". CBR. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  5. ↑ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Super-Villains. New York: Facts on File. p. 203. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  6. ↑ Brevoort, Tom; DeFalco, Tom; Manning, Matthew K.; Sanderson, Peter; Wiacek, Win (2017). Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History. DK Publishing. p. 135. ISBN 978-1465455505.
  7. ↑ Magnett, Chase (February 21, 2018). "The 8 Best Black Panther Villains". Marvel. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  8. ↑ "7 Great Villains for 'Black Panther 2'". Marvel. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  9. ↑ Epps, De'Angelo (December 7, 2020). "Marvel: Ranking Black Panther's Rogues Gallery". CBR. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  10. ↑ Harn, Darby (September 25, 2021). "15 Most Powerful Black Panther Villains". Screen Rant. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  11. ↑ Eckhardt, Peter (November 30, 2022). "10 Most Iconic Black Panther Villains". CBR. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Man Ape Voices (Black Panther)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved August 18, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  13. ↑ Kroll, Justin (September 28, 2016). "'Black Panther' Taps 'Person of Interest' Actor Winston Duke to Play M'Baku (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on September 30, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  14. ↑ Breznican, Anthony (July 13, 2017). "How Black Panther solves the problem of M'Baku". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on July 15, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  15. ↑ Kaye, Don (February 15, 2018). "Black Panther: Creating a New M'Baku". Den of Geek. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  16. ↑ Pritchard, Tom (November 29, 2017). "Avengers: Infinity War Breakdown: Everything We Spotted in the First Trailer" Archived November 30, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. Gizmodo,
  17. ↑ Baumgartner, Scott (March 31, 2019). "Winston Duke on How 'Avengers' Will Top Itself with 'Endgame'". ET Online. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  18. ↑ Gearan, Hannah (July 26, 2022). "Black Panther 2 Star Teases M'Baku & Jabari Tribe's New Role In Wakanda". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on July 28, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  19. ↑ Couch, Aaron; Kit, Borys (March 26, 2025). "Marvel Unveils 'Avengers: Doomsday' Cast with MCU Mainstays and 'X-Men', 'Fantastic Four' Stars". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 26, 2025. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
  20. ↑ "LEGO Marvel Avengers first DLC packs get release dates". 17 March 2016.
  21. ↑ Becker, Daniel (June 14, 2017). "LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 Character List From E3 Live Stream!". Bricks to Life. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  22. ↑ @leowyld (November 20, 2017). "@JayShockblast I know you like to..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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