Avengers: Infinity War - Black Panther's Man-Ape Will Return

It looks like there's going to be more of a cross-over between Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther than previously thought, as IMDB have just confirmed that another supporting character from the stand-alone will join Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa in the Avengers ensemble.

Winston Duke's M'Baku - otherwise known as Man-Ape - will be back for the film immediately following Black Panther...

Man-Ape was presented as a secondary villain in Black Panther when he was cast, but it has been widely assumed that he would be no more than a supporting figure with Michael B Jordan's Killmonger and Andy Serkis' Klaue already in the top bad guy roles.

In the comics, M'Baku is usually a challenge to T'Challa's power, and we know that sort of political tension will underpin the plot of Black Panther, but it clearly can't come to that much of a head if M'Baku survives to fight another day.

Given his confirmation for Infinity War, you'd have to assume he's more important than previously thought. Could it be that we'll see Thanos attacking Wakanda? Or might M'Baku end up siding with Thanos in an attempt to overthrow T'Challa? It wouldn't be impossible.

It's probably more likely that we'll see a Wakanda-set sequence (especially as Infinity War directly follows Black Panther), especially as there have previously been rumours that the Dora Milaje and Shuri will return for Infinity War too. And perhaps Man-Ape will begrudgingly have to fight alongside T'Challa to send the Mad Titan packing?

What do you think of this news? Share your reactions below in the comments thread.