<Li> Letitia Wright as Shuri: T'Challa's 16 - year - old sister and the princess of Wakanda who designs new technology for the country . Wright described her as "an innovative spirit and an innovative mind" who "wants to take Wakanda to a new place...(and) has a great fashion sense". Wright also felt Shuri was a good role model for young black girls . Moore called Shuri the smartest person in the world, even more so than Tony Stark . </Li> <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 that M'Baku is the leader of 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 and Queen Mother of Wakanda . Boseman noted that Ramonda "is one of the advisors that (T'Challa) would look to...for some of the answers of what his father might want or might do . She may not be exactly right all the time, but she definitely has insights ." 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, working with her before she began filming, and while she was on set, by 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, and a way to reference the spirituality within Wakanda from the comics . He also added that Zuri "is a major tie back" to T'Chaka for T'Challa, and is "Black Panther's version of Obi - Wan Kenobi". Denzel Whitaker, who is not related to Forest, plays a young Zuri . </Li>

Who plays black panthers mother in the movie