Man-Ape

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For the zoological taxon, see Anthropopithecus.
Man-Ape
Manape.png
M'Baku, in Black Panther #49.
Art by Sal Velluto.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceAvengers #62 (Mar 1969)
Created byRoy Thomas
John Buscema
In-story information
Alter egoM'Baku
Team affiliationsLethal Legion
Masters of Evil
Villains for Hire
PartnershipsGrim Reaper
Saboteur
Notable aliasesWhite Gorilla
AbilitiesExpert hand to hand combatant
Superhuman strength, speed, agility, stamina and durability

Man-Ape (M'Baku) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as a frequent enemy of the Black Panther.[1]

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

Publication history[]

He first appeared in Avengers #62 (March 1969) and was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema.[2]

Fictional character biography[]

M'Baku was born in Wakanda. He became one of Wakanda's greatest warriors, second only to the Black Panther. 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.[3] M'Baku became a renegade and gains his powers by killing a white gorilla, bathing in its blood, and eating its flesh, taking the alias of Man-Ape. He fought with the Black Panther and was believed to be killed when the Panther Totem that he bound Black Panther to crumbled and buried him instead.[4][5] He is revived by his aide N'Gamo and goes to America where the Black Panther is with the Avengers at the time.[6]

He allies himself with the original Lethal Legion made up of Grim Reaper, Living Laser, Power Man, 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. The Black Panther is lured into a trap and knocked out by an exploding dummy of Monica. He is chained up and meets the other members. The Legion straps him and Monica to chairs before leaving, though he is able to escape and contact the other members, before the Grim Reaper defeats him. The Legion is defeated by the Avengers after Vision overcomes Power Man and frees the other members.[7] Man-Ape bests Black Panther again until he is defeated by Captain America.[8] Black Panther banishes Man-Ape from Wakanda on order of execution if he returns.[8]

Man-Ape later joins a new Lethal Legion (consisting of the Grim Reaper, Black Talon, Goliath (Erik Josten's latest alias), Nekra, and Ultron-12) and battles Tigra,[9] but abandons the Grim Reaper alongside Black Talon when the Reaper's racism became too much for him to tolerate.[10]

Man-Ape travels to uninhabited parts of the world before joining Crimson Cowl's incarnation of the Masters of Evil which is defeated by the Thunderbolts.[11]

Despite his rivalry with T'Challa, M'Baku was invited to the wedding of T'Challa and Ororo Munroe (also known as Storm of the X-Men), where he gets drunk on scotch and tries to pick a fight with Spider-Man.[12]

Man-Ape is next seen at the end of Heroes for Hire #6, teamed with Grim Reaper & Saboteur.[13]

Man-Ape is reportedly killed by Morlun: Devourer of Totems while defending his people from Morlun's attack on the Man-Ape's kingdom. But before his apparent death, he sends an envoy to Wakanda to warn them of the approaching danger.[14] Man-Ape later appears alive as a member of Purple Man's Villains for Hire.[15]

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.

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

Other versions[]

JLA/Avengers[]

In the 2003–2004 intercompany crossover JLA/Avengers, Man-Ape is among the mind-controlled villains who attack the heroes as they assault Krona's Stronghold and fights Big Barda.[16]

Ultimate Marvel[]

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, M'Baku is the name of T'Challa's older brother. After the young T'Challa failed to complete the "Trial of the Black Panther", M'Baku derided him, saying that he should have taken the trial instead. Later, angry that his father had decided to share Wakanda’s technology in exchange for America’s help in saving T’Challa’s life, M'Baku left the kingdom.[17]

In other media[]

Television[]

  • Man-Ape appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes animated series, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. In the episode "Welcome to Wakanda", he challenges T'Chaka for Wakanda's throne and kills the king in combat with Klaw's unseen help. As Man-Ape takes the throne, T'Challa leaves in preparation of overthrowing him. With Wakanda under their control, Man-Ape and Klaw have the Wakandans' mine for Vibranium. In the episode "Panther's Quest", Man-Ape speaks with the Grim Reaper about HYDRA's Vibranium purchases. However, T'Challa and Captain America confront Man-Ape. Despite using a sonic device to weaken him, T'Challa defeats Man-Ape and liberates Wakanda.
  • M'Baku appears in the Avengers: Black Panther's Quest animated series, voiced by Ike Amadi.[18] This version is a member of the Shadow Council and wears a gorilla-themed force-enhancer suit.

Film[]

Winston Duke portrays M'Baku in live-action films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This version is the leader of the renegade Jabari Tribe, who shun Wakanda's technological society and have a religious reverence for gorillas, such as decorating their armor with white gorilla pelts[19][20] and worshiping the gorilla god Hanuman as a part of complex Indo-African religion rather than the Panther god Bast.

  • M'Baku is introduced in Black Panther.[21] M'Baku challenges T'Challa for control of Wakanda. While the former is defeated in combat, the latter convinces him to yield. M'Baku returns the favor by looking after T'Challa's grievously wounded body following his fight with Killmonger and agreeing to look after T'Challa's mother Ramonda while T'Challa fights Killmonger once more. M'Baku initially declines T'Challa's request to help, but ultimately reconsiders and leads the Jabari into battle against Killmonger. Following Killmonger's death, M'Baku is granted a place on Wakanda's national council.
  • M'Baku next appears in Avengers: Infinity War,[22] in which and the Jabari Tribe join T'Challa, the Wakandan army, and the Avengers in fighting Thanos' Outriders. M'Baku survives the battle and the Blip, though many of his soldiers and T'Challa disintegrate, much to his horror.
  • M'Baku appears in Avengers: Endgame,[23] in which he joins the restored Wakandan army in joining the Avengers' fight with an alternate timeline version of Thanos.

Video games[]

  • Man-Ape appears as a boss in the PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, and Wii versions of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, voiced by .[citation needed] In a fashion similar to his comic book origin, M'Baku leads an attack on Wakanda in a bid to usurp the throne from T'Challa whilst the country is incapacitated by a wave of hostile nanite machines created by the Fold.
  • Man-Ape appears as a boss in the Facebook game Marvel: Avengers Alliance.[citation needed] This version is the leader of the White Gorillas.
  • Man-Ape appears as a boss in Marvel Heroes.[citation needed]
  • Man-Ape appears as a playable character in the "Black Panther" DLC for Lego Marvel's Avengers.[24]
  • Man-Ape appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2,[25] voiced by Alexis Rodney.[26] After Wakanda becomes part of Kang the Conqueror's makeshift city, Chronopolis, Man-Ape assists Klaw and the Hydra Four in stealing Vibranium, but is defeated by the Black Panther, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and Spider-Man.

References[]

  1. ^ Wells, John (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 270. ISBN 978-1605490557.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 203. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  4. ^ Avengers #62
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Avengers #78 (July 1970)
  7. ^ Avengers #78 & 79 (July & August 1970)
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Avengers #79 (August 1970)
  9. ^ West Coast Avengers #1-2
  10. ^ Vision and Scarlet Witch Vol. 2 #2
  11. ^ Thunderbolts #24 & 25 (March & April 1999)
  12. ^ Black Panther Vol. 4 #18
  13. ^ Heroes for Hire #6
  14. ^ Black Panther Vol. 4 #4
  15. ^ Villains for Hire #3
  16. ^ JLA/Avengers #4. DC Comics.
  17. ^ Ultimate Captain America Annual #1. Marvel Comics.
  18. ^ "The Panther and the Wolf". Avengers Assemble. Season 5. Episode 4. October 7, 2018. Disney XD.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ "Black Panther: Creating a New M'Baku". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ Pritchard, Tom (November 29, 2017). "Avengers: Infinity War Breakdown: Everything We Spotted in the First Trailer" Archived 2017-11-30 at the Wayback Machine. Gizmodo.
  23. ^ Baumgartner, Scott (March 31, 2019). "Winston Duke on How 'Avengers' Will Top Itself with 'Endgame'". ET Online. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  24. ^ "LEGO Marvel Avengers first DLC packs get release dates". 17 March 2016.
  25. ^ Becker, Daniel (June 14, 2017). "LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 Character List From E3 Live Stream!". Bricks to Life. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  26. ^ @leowyld (20 November 2017). "@JayShockblast I know you like to..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.

External links[]

  • Man-Ape at Marvel.com
  • Man-Ape at The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
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