Actor Winston Duke has been on a hot streak lately. He featured in two of the most talked-about films last year,UsandAvengers: Endgame, and is currently starring opposite Mark Wahlberg in the Netflix movieSpenser Confidential. While promoting the film, Duke revealed some new titbits regarding filming his part in the finalAvengersmovie.
“I shot with everyone. The raw footage was just so long with everyone that my stuff didn’t make it in. I filmed so much fighting for it, and I was really bummed to not see any of it in the movie. (Laughs.) I did so many fighting scenes in Endgame during that final battle where they’re trying tokeep the gauntlet away from Thanos. It was really cool. Marvel knows what they’re doing, and it all leads to the best product. So, I am happy; I was just very disappointed that nobody got to see all the stuff I was doing.
It’s a pity that fans did not get to seemore of M’Bakuin action, because it sounds like Marvel had filmed some pretty sick action sequences of the character taking on Thanos and his army of battle-hungry aliens before discarding them.
Winston Dukewas an important part of the standaloneBlack Panthermovie which led up toAvengers: Endgame, where he played the role of M’Baku, leader of a rival faction of Wakandans who fought with T’Challa for the title of King before the two joined forces to battle the threat posed by Eric Killmonger’s rise to power.Black Pantherended with M’Baku and T’Challa on the same side, and M’Baku was shown to be one of the heroes opposing Thanos inAvengers: Infinity Warbefore the snap dusted away half of all living beings.
When it came to making thefinal stand against Thanos' armyinAvengers: Endgame, M’Baku was conspicuous by his absence during most of the battle. This was despite Duke being a prominent part of the promotions for the movie, and fans clamoring to see more of his character.
Judging by Duke’s remarks, his scenes getting cut was a simple result of the sheer volume of important characters that the film had to give screen time to. Naturally, some characters were going to end up getting shafted, and M’Baku happened to be one of them. It was still a less ignominious fate than Black Widow, who despite being one of the original Avengers, did not even get her own funeral scene after her death, while Tony got to hog all the post-sacrifice glory with his funeral that literally every hero in the universe attended.
But just like Black Widow fans found vindication with her solo movie finally getting ready for release, the story is not over for M’Baku. In the comics, his character is a prominent enemy for Black Panther, known as the Man-Ape, and considering how popular Duke’s portrayal of M’Baku proved to be with fans, Marvel will undoubtedly bring him back for future adventures.The Hollywood Reporterfirst brought us this news.
