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 | |
|---|---|
 Artwork from Black Panther #49. Art by Sal Velluto. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Avengers #62 (March 1969)[1] |
| Created by | Roy Thomas John Buscema |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | M'Baku |
| Species | Human mutate |
| Team affiliations | Lethal Legion Masters of Evil Villains for Hire |
| Partnerships | Grim Reaper Saboteur |
| Notable aliases | White Gorilla |
| Abilities |
|
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), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).
Publication history
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Man-Ape first appeared in The Avengers #62 (March 1969). He was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema.[3]
Fictional character biography
editM'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.[4] 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.[5][6] He is revived by his aide N'Gamo and goes to America to battle the Avengers.[7]
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.[8] Man-Ape bests Black Panther again until he is defeated by Captain America.[9] Black Panther banishes Man-Ape from Wakanda on order of execution if he returns.[9]
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,[10] but abandons the Grim Reaper alongside Black Talon when the Reaper's racism became too much for him to tolerate.[11]
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.[12]
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.[13]
Man-Ape is next seen at the end of Heroes for Hire #6, working with Grim Reaper and Saboteur.[14]
Man-Ape is reportedly killed by Morlun 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.[15] Man-Ape later appears alive as a member of Purple Man's Villains for Hire.[16]
Powers and abilities
editThe 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.[17][18] 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.
Reception
editAccolades
edit- In 2018, ComicBook.com ranked Man-Ape 3rd in their "8 Best Black Panther Villains" list[19] and included him in their "7 Great Villains for Black Panther 2" list.[20]
- In 2020, Comic Book Resources (CBR) ranked Man-Ape 2nd in their "Marvel: Ranking Black Panther's Rogues Gallery" list.[21]
- In 2022, Screen Rant included Man-Ape in their "15 Most Powerful Black Panther Villains" list.[22]
- In 2022, CBR ranked Man-Ape 3rd in their "10 Most Iconic Black Panther Villains" list.[23]
Other versions
edit- Man-Ape appears in JLA/Avengers as a brainwashed minion of Krona.[24]
- An alternate universe variant of M'Baku from Earth-1610 appears in the Ultimate Marvel universe as T'Challa's older brother.[25]
In other media
editTelevision
edit- Man-Ape appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.[26] Throughout his appearances, he and Klaw kill T'Chaka and seize control of Wakanda before T'Challa and Captain America defeat them.
- M'Baku appears in Avengers Assemble, voiced by Ike Amadi.[26] This version is a member of the Shadow Council who wears a gorilla-themed force-enhancer suit.
Film
editM'Baku appears in films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), portrayed by Winston Duke. 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[27][28] and worshiping the gorilla god Hanuman as a part of Indo-African religion rather than the Panther goddess Bast. He is introduced in Black Panther,[29] and makes subsequent appearances in Avengers: Infinity War,[30] Avengers: Endgame,[31] and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.[32]
Video games
edit- Man-Ape appears as a boss in the PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, and Wii versions of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, voiced by Emerson Franklin.[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 hostile nanite machines created by the Fold.
- Man-Ape appears as a boss in 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.[33]
- Man-Ape appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2,[34] voiced by Alexis Rodney.[35]
References
edit- ^ Conroy, Mike (2004). 500 Comicbook Villains. Collins & Brown. ISBN 1-84340-205-X.
- ^ Wells, John (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 270. ISBN 978-1605490557.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Super-Villains. New York: Facts on File. p. 203. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.[1]
- ^ The Avengers #62
- ^ 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.
- ^ The Avengers #78 (July 1970)
- ^ The Avengers #78-79 (July-Aug. 1970)
- ^ a b The Avengers #79 (Aug. 1970)
- ^ The West Coast Avengers #1-2
- ^ Vision and Scarlet Witch vol. 2 #2
- ^ Thunderbolts #24-25 (March–April 1999)
- ^ Black Panther vol. 4 #18
- ^ Heroes for Hire #6
- ^ Black Panther vol. 4 #4
- ^ Villains for Hire #3
- ^ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #3
- ^ C. B. R. Staff (2018-03-04). "M'Baku: 15 Things Fans Never Knew About Black Panther's Man-Ape". CBR. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
- ^ Magnett, Chase (February 21, 2018). "The 8 Best Black Panther Villains". Marvel. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
- ^ "7 Great Villains for 'Black Panther 2'". Marvel. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
- ^ Epps, De'Angelo (December 7, 2020). "Marvel: Ranking Black Panther's Rogues Gallery". CBR. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
- ^ Harn, Darby (September 25, 2021). "15 Most Powerful Black Panther Villains". Screen Rant. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
- ^ Eckhardt, Peter (November 30, 2022). "10 Most Iconic Black Panther Villains". CBR. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ^ JLA/Avengers #4. DC Comics.
- ^ Ultimate Captain America Annual #1. Marvel Comics.
- ^ a b "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Kaye, Don (February 15, 2018). "Black Panther: Creating a New M'Baku". Den of Geek. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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,
- ^ Baumgartner, Scott (March 31, 2019). "Winston Duke on How 'Avengers' Will Top Itself with 'Endgame'". ET Online. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "LEGO Marvel Avengers first DLC packs get release dates". 17 March 2016.
- ^ Becker, Daniel (June 14, 2017). "LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 Character List From E3 Live Stream!". Bricks to Life. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- ^ @leowyld (20 November 2017). "@JayShockblast I know you like to..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.