To say that Avengers: Infinity War will be packed with characters is a serious understatement. When Thanos comes calling on Earth next year, most of the major Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes will come together to battle the Mad Titan. That's already a gigantic cast, but there are also a fair number of supporting players who are getting on the action, both good and bad. Now it looks like another individual fitting into the latter category has been added to the list, as it's been reported that Black Panther antagonist M'Baku, better known in the comics as Man-Ape will appear in Infinity War.
Person of Interest star Winston Duke is debuting as M'Baku early next year in the Black Panther movie, and according to IMDB, he'll return a few months later for the craziness that is Avengers: Infinity War. Normally we'd be skeptical about casting news that originated IMDB, since that information can be edited by users and is rarely reliable when it comes to upcoming movies. However, since the website posted this M'Baku news on their social media pages, it stands a bigger chance of being legitimate. Exactly how the Wakandan villain would be involved in Infinity War is uncertain, though presumably it would mean more screen time with his adversary, King T'Challa.
In the comics, Man-Ape was one of Wakanda's most powerful warriors, and when he decided to take the Wakandan throne for himself, he enlisted the White Gorilla Cult's help and took part in a ritual that granted him abilities like superhuman strength and enhanced stamina. But even as the empowered Man-Ape, M'Baku lost his fight against T'Challa, but he hasn't stopped trying to defeat the Black Panther in the years since. The only detail that has been revealed about Winston Duke's version of M'Baku is that he'll be the leader of a rival Wakandan tribe. Assuming he remains a bad guy in Black Panther, he'll be in good company with Michael B. Jordan's Erik Killmonger and Andy Serkis' Ulysses Klaue, the latter of whom was last seen with his arm freshly ripped off in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
No specific plot details about Avengers: Infinity War have been disclosed yet, but after debuting in 2012's The Avengers and lingering in the shadows while others did his dirty work, the movie will finally see Thanos coming to the forefront and trying to rewrite reality with the Infinity Stones. As for Black Panther, that will see T'Challa coming back to Wakanda after the events of Captain America: Civil War, only to discover that sinister forces are conspiring to take control of the nation, requiring the king to team up with members of the Dora Milaje and CIA agent Everett K. Ross to stop this plot.
Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters on May 4, 2018, but you can see M'Baku make his MCU debut earlier than that when Black Panther is released on February 16, 2018.
