In Black Panther, Killmonger had a short but thorough character journey; however, Michael B. Jordan’s comments concerning a possible return for the MCU villain threatens destroying his original story. Jordan showed his love for Killmonger as a character; nevertheless, when asked about his return to the MCU he has been unclear. There is no doubt that Jordan’s fans would welcome him reprising the role in the future, but what Black Panther did with the villain would be weakened.
In Black Panther, the primary antagonist was Erik Killmonger, who has a cousin named King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman). He challenges him for the throne and successfully acquires the powers of the “Black Panther.” He aims to take revenge for his father’s death and value his legacy by using Wakanda’s modern technology and weapons all over the world to rescue people having African ancestry. Eventually, T’Challa wins Killmonger, and his death was intimate when he wants to die free as his ancestors rather than live as a man is still restricted by the chains of American slavery.
It was such a successful story of Killmonger in Black Panther since he was a grounded and reliable antagonist. Although he’s sympathetic, he’s severe when challenging T’Challa’s philosophy as well as physically. Even when his measures were wrong, Killmonger’s motivations were so evident and understandable that Michael B. Jordan didn’t suppose Killmonger as a villain in Black Panther. This is a complicated character and director Ryan Coogler did justice to his story, but it came to a natural, fulfilling and significant end. If Killmonger appeared again in the MCU in the Black Panther movies it would break faith with the morality belief that was set in his original story and undermine the emotional importance of his decision to die. Furthermore, Killmonger was absolutely different from T’Challa, who was eager to break the rules and put aside all morality without any hesitations in order to achieve his goals. In that situation, if he was brought back and won, it would betray T’Challa’s legacy.
Of course, Michael B. Jordan has already renewed Killmonger in the wider MCU on Disney+, as he voiced a variation of the character in Marvel’s What If…?. As Phase Four of MCU Multiverse is now reaching the highest level, it could be easy to explain the Killmonger’s return to Wakanda, but not give any reasons from a story perspective. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the following return to Wakanda, which proposes the tough task of bringing a close to T’Challa’s story after the sorrowful death of Chadwick Boseman. Although they have still not declared the villain role, there is a rumor that Namor the Sub-Mariner will play as the antagonist, insteading of bringing back Killmonger.
Killmonger affected moderately T’Challa in Black Panther, and made complete changes to Wakanda, (despite not in the way of his intent). Michael B. Jordan’s fascinating performance has contributed to his success as a character when he raised standards for villains in the MCU. However, compared with reviving an interesting character, it is better to finish his story there.
