Michael B Jordan IS Erik Killmonger!

[Stringer]

I know that's who MBJ is. That problem is that's all he ever is - same tone, same delivery. You can be charismatic, but that doesn't always translate to the role being played. Go watch a villain like Zemo from Civil War who had the same vengeance on his mind. He wasn't bloodthirsty in ever single scene. The role (while limited in screen time like most MCU villains) was handled with nuance. Killemonger is angry militant the entire time. His mannerisms were like watching fights break out at a bar.

Remember Wakanda was in his blood, so there should have been a better balance between the revenge he was seeking and the unspoken appreciation for ancestral homeland and the stories his father told him.

No, you said the reason for his portrayal was to appeal to younger audiences which makes no sense. What audience does Martin Freeman's character specifically appeal to? Or Angela Bassett? Middle aged white men and mothers?

And maybe you preferred Zemo because he was understated, but that was the point, to go unnoticed around larger than life heroes. Killmonger's rage was meant to show and dictate his actions as a result of his treatment, or the monster they created according to T'Challa.

 

[Greens]

On one hand they were trying to keep the twist a secret that a son existed, but it hurt the character later one because we literally knew nothing about him. Everything is expressed thru his own exposition later on all while he's killing everyone he can. I mean the guy had kill notches all over his skin.

The kill notches were there, but I never got the sense that he actually killed that many people. Who did he kill, and why? Was he a Punisher type going after American criminals? If so, that sounds like something we should have seen.

 

[onDgrind]

A girl was asking a guy when i was leaving the cinema, who was the villain ? cause Killmonger didn't seem like the villain to her

 

[Greens]

That's a nice soundbite, but Killmonger was clearly the villain

 

[legendkillin]

The kill notches were there, but I never got the sense that he actually killed that many people. Who did he kill, and why? Was he a Punisher type going after American criminals? If so, that sounds like something we should have seen.

Well he mentioned places he killed during the ritual battle.

 

[kguillou]

I'm really surprised so many people sympathize with the guy and didn't see him as a villain, I feel like the movie didn't SHOW us nearly enough for us to side with him. The guy was an evil prick from his first scene to the last one.

 

[Flint Marko]

An evil prick who made some good points.

 

[Mike Murdock]

Well he mentioned places he killed during the ritual battle.

Yeah, he was special forces, he destabilized governments and killed people in foreign countries.

 

[Guts]

It's a little odd that the United States government employed a guy that commits self harm every time he kills people. There's a character like that in DC comics but he gets locked in an asylum.

 

[Greens]

Yeah, he was special forces, he destabilized governments and killed people in foreign countries.

You're right, I forgot about that. Still, that's a lot of kills for a special forces guy lol

 

[terry78]

An evil prick who made some good points.

They always do. But it's the way they go about resolving it that's the issue. Every villain in the MCU aside from maybe Red Skull had valid points to make.

 

[Guts]

They always do. But it's the way they go about resolving it that's the issue. Every villain in the MCU aside from maybe Red Skull had valid points to make.

There's also Ronan from Guardian of The Galaxy. Lee Pace said the character is basically the space version of Osama Bin Laden.

 

[JtheDreamer]

I'm really surprised so many people sympathize with the guy and didn't see him as a villain, I feel like the movie didn't SHOW us nearly enough for us to side with him. The guy was an evil prick from his first scene to the last one.

Precisely.

He's being romanticized because of the implied revenge factor, but in reality the moment he steps on screen he's already hurting/killing people and his demeanor is well - just a dick in general.

 

[Boy Scout]

It’s not impossible to be a sympathetic dick. Killmonger not only makes some valid points, but he only exists because the main character’s father basically ruined his life. He’s clearly a bad person, but there’s so much more to it than that.

 

[JtheDreamer]

It’s not impossible to be a sympathetic dick. Killmonger not only makes some valid points, but he only exists because the main character’s father basically ruined his life. He’s clearly a bad person, but there’s so much more to it than that.

There's more to it in your head - but not so much in the film.

Then again this is a comic book movie, so I'm probably asking for too much when I said that there should have been more development of his character from the moment he stepped foot in Wakanda instead of a couple of blatant lines of exposition. We couldn't get it prior to that because they were keeping his relationship secret.

 

[Boy Scout]

There's more to it in your head - but not so much in the film.

I disagree. The film painted that picture for me pretty clearly.

 

[Mistah K88]

I asked my 6 year old nephew who his favorite character was and he said “the bad Black Panther” . Obviously Killmonger was just kind of cool haha.

Now after seeing some people’s reviews, while I thought he was great, was Killmonger to extreme for general audiences? While his plan is cartoonish (as arming oppressed people wouldn’t really have the results he’s thinking of, it might actually destroy the planet.), it still managed to have people completely miss some of the themes of the movie.

 

[EmperorCommodus]

Killmonger if anything is a villain you can actually sympathize or even empathize with

Doesn't he say he wants to kill children?

 

[JtheDreamer]

I asked my 6 year old nephew who his favorite character was and he said “the bad Black Panther” . Obviously Killmonger was just kind of cool haha.

Now after seeing some people’s reviews, while I thought he was great, was Killmonger to extreme for general audiences? While his plan is cartoonish (as arming oppressed people wouldn’t really have the results he’s thinking of, it might actually destroy the planet.), it still managed to have people completely miss some of the themes of the movie.

Ya his plan was 100% cartoonish.

But the themes? I don't think anyone missed them. I think the argument (particularly from me) was that they weren't executed as well as they could have been.

 

[Tg11]

You can sympathize with Killmonger because of the fact that T'Challa's father killed his father but also because of the fact that the Wakandans basically forgot about him or they ignored his existence for so long

In Killmonger's shoes anyone would probably be thirsty for revenge or would be hungry for power which is what Killmonger's true motivation really was if anything

 

[Greens]

I liked the moment where they showed the flashback and it was revealed that Killmonger was one of the kids playing basketball, felt like an "oh ****!" moment the way it was executed, but the character itself didn't live up to that.

 

[Tg11]

Plus when MBJ's Killmonger was in that dream sequence talking to his father that was another reason why I could have sympathized with him

 

[Guts]

You can sympathize with Killmonger because of the fact that T'Challa's father killed his father but also because of the fact that the Wakandans basically forgot about him or they ignored his existence for so long

In Killmonger's shoes anyone would probably be thirsty for revenge or would be hungry for power which is what Killmonger's true motivation really was if anything

Mainly because nobody in Wakanda knew he existed.

 

[javonstokess]

IMO, he's probably 1b to Loki's 1a with best Marvel villains.

 

[Tg11]

Even so even if they didn't know that he existed they could have at least tried to find out if T'Chaka's brother N'Jobu had any children out there and if they had then I guarantee you Killmonger's life would have been different because then he would have been apprised of his heritage and then he would have grown up in Wakanda instead of in the States where he basically became a villain of circumstances