Life is a funny thing, and it's impossible to know what it has in store for you. It's also a place where the strangest coincidences can happen. Such was the case for a pair of actors who saw Marvel's biggest movie together, before finding themselves as part of the universe. Winston Duke, who plays M'Baku in Black Panther reveals that, while a drama student at Yale, he and Lupita Nyong'o went to see The Avengers together, and dreamed of being in a movie like that...
We saw the first Avengers movie together. And had wondered if we'd ever get to a be in a movie like that --- such a big budget, crazy vehicle with special effects and tons of funny, cool people that you admire. And we were just like 'Yeah, I don't know if that's ever going to happen.' And then for this to be my first movie, her first Marvel film, we were like 'Can you believe that happened? Do you remember Avengers in New Haven, Connecticut?'
A lot of people probably sat in theaters and dreamed of being part of something like The Avengers. It wasn't just one of the biggest movies ever made, it was also the culmination of a new type of cinematic storytelling that had never been tried before. Every aspiring actor in the world probably saw themselves on the big screen. But, of course, actually getting there would never happen for most of them, and Winston Duke and Lupita Nyong'o probably had a longer shot than some.
Yet, you can never predict the future, cut to a few years later and not only are both of them successful working actors, one of them an Academy Award winner, but they're both part of the same Marvel universe that they saw those years before, and performing together on screen. It's literally a dream come true, which is pretty amazing.
Even more surprising for Winston Duke, as he points out to People, is the fact that Black Panther was his first movie. While Duke has been performing since 2014 his roles have been entirely on television until he made the leap to the big screen with Marvel, which is an impressive way to make the transition.
And the pair of actors aren't done yet. Both Winston Duke and Lupita Nyong'o will be reprising their Black Panther roles in this May's, sorry, April's, Avengers: Infinity War. There a decent chance they'll also appear in Avengers 4 and a virtual guarantee we'll see them both in a sequel to Black Panther that has to be on the drawing board following the first film's remarkable success. See them again when Infinity War arrives, now on April 27.
