Fans’ Biggest Complaint About Killmonger Might Be the Actor Who Plays Him
Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have plenty to talk about. With 23 films released in the past 13 years, the MCU certainly has plenty of material to work with. One of the most successful MCU movies is Black Panther. Released in 2018, Black Panther centers around the conflict between T’Challa, king of Wakanda, and Killmonger, T’Challa’s cousin who shows up to try to take over the throne.
Like everything related to the MCU, fans have plenty of opinions when it comes to these two characters. Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan, has particularly garnered a lot of discussion about whether or not he was a good enough villain for such a monumental movie. But is the issue with the character or Michael B. Jordan’s portrayal?
Michael B. Jordan had been “wanting to play a villain for a while”
Villains come and go in the MCU, since — spoiler alert — the good guys usually win. In 2016, Jordan stated that he was looking forward to playing a villain because he’d always wanted to, as reported by Coming Soon. But before his stint in Black Panther, Jordan had had quite the acting career already.
The 33-year-old actor got his start in TV, appearing in The Wire and All My Children, according to IMDb. He had multiple guest appearances in crime dramas like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Cold Case, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Bones in the early 2000s. In the 2010s, Jordan appeared in Parenthood and Friday Night Lights, where he really began to make a name for himself in TV.
Jordan’s first major movie role came in 2013 with Fruitvale Station. This garnered him a lot of attention as a breakthrough star at multiple indie movie awards ceremonies. In 2015, Jordan starred alongside Zac Efron in That Awkward Moment and Creed with Sylvester Stallone.
Despite an impressive career, fans aren’t sure he was right for the role of Killmonger
Fans recently took to Reddit to discuss their thoughts about the character of Killmonger, both in terms of how he works as a villain and how Jordan portrayed him. Some users felt like Jordan wasn’t compelling enough as Killmonger to make them care about the character as much as other MCU villains, like Thanos or Loki.
One user stated that it was Jordan’s acting that ruined the character of Killmonger for them. “My problem with Killmonger isn’t so much the character but the actor that plays him. Michael B Jordan … just kind of ruins it all for me.” Another user agreed that they disliked Jordan as an actor and he didn’t fulfill the role of Killmonger as well as someone else could have.
Others think Killmonger wasn’t a good enough villain by nature
While there were a few fans in the discussion that felt it was Jordan’s portrayal that led to the Killmonger hate, some still felt that it was his background as a villain that was the problem. Many agreed that his backstory didn’t justify the nature of his evilness and that caused some fans to be less invested in him as a villain compared to a more fleshed out villain like Thanos, who seemingly had more of a plan behind why he was an antagonist. Others felt like the fact that he was only introduced in Black Panther and didn’t make it to the end of the movie made them care less about him overall.
Whatever the reason, MCU fans will surely continue making their opinions known. Jordan is expected to return for the role of Killmonger in Black Panther 2, which is expected to be released in 2022. No one’s sure what that means for the character since Killmonger died in the first Black Panther, but we’re excited to see what the story brings.
