<Li> Winston Duke as M'Baku: A powerful, ruthless warrior who is the leader of Wakanda's mountain tribe, the Jabari, who are in protest to T'Challa being the new king . Duke described the Jabari as people who "strongly believe that to move forward, you have to have a strong adherence and respect for the past . So they have a deep moral conscience ." Character elements from Christopher Priest's 1998--2003 Black Panther series were adapted for M'Baku's portrayal in the film . M'Baku is not referred to in the film by his comics alter ego "Man - Ape", since Marvel felt there were "a lot of racial implications that don't sit well" in having a black character dress up as an ape . This aspect of the character was instead reworked to have the Jabari tribe worship the gorilla gods, with M'Baku still wearing elements of fur on his arms and legs and a chest - plate that hints at the gorilla . Moore continued, "Man - Ape is a problematic character for a lot of reasons, but the idea behind Man - Ape we thought was really fascinating...It's a line I think we're walking, and hopefully walking successfully ." To further differentiate the Jabari, Duke spoke a version of the Nigerian Igbo language rather than the Xhosa language spoken by other Wakandans . </Li> <Li> Angela Bassett as Ramonda: T'Challa and Shuri's mother, the Queen Mother of Wakanda . Ramonda serves as an adviser to T'Challa for when he would otherwise have turned to his father . Bassett wore a silver, waist - length wig for the role that was made from 120 pieces of hair hand - rolled into dreadlocks . Calliet also served as Bassett's trainer before and during filming, creating high - intensity interval training circuits and helping to craft her diet . </Li> <Li> Forest Whitaker as Zuri: An elder statesman in Wakanda and the keeper of the heart - shaped herb . Coogler called Zuri a religious and spiritual figure, referencing the spirituality of Wakanda from the comics, and compared him to Obi - Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars series . Zuri is also a "major tie back" to T'Chaka for T'Challa . Denzel Whitaker, who is not related to Forest, plays a young Zuri . </Li> <Li> Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue: A South African black - market arms dealer, smuggler and gangster, who is allied with Killmonger . He uses a piece of advanced Wakandan mining equipment as a sonic disruptor arm - cannon, replacing his left arm, which he lost in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Boseman described Klaue as a threat to Wakanda, one of the few outsiders to enter the country, and someone with access to vibranium . He compared the character to Osama bin Laden . Serkis added that in addition to his desire for vibranium, Klaue is motivated by a "personal" vendetta against T'Challa, and "to expose what he thinks is the hypocrisy of Wakanda". </Li>

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