This Black Panther Clip Reveals One of M'Baku's Best Moments Was Improvised

Winston Duke improvised one of his character’s best moments in Black Panther.

Winston Duke’s turn as M’Baku is just one of many things that makes Black Panther great. He’s powerful, intimidating, and also kind of funny, all of which comes together in a single scene that we now know was improvised. Marvel’s given io9 an exclusive look at the clip from the upcoming home release with commentary by co-writer and director Ryan Coogler.

The improvised scene is the one where Ramonda leads T’Challa’s allies to M’Baku and the Jabari tribe, hat in hand, to ask for his help after Killmonger takes over. Things are already going poorly, but then Everett Ross opens his mouth, which makes things even worse. Below is the scene in full, with commentary by Coogler, along with his production designer Hannah Beachler.

So yeah, M’Baku shutting down Ross with barking was improvised by Winston Duke on the set. But more than that, Coogler talks about how the moment balances so many things. M’Baku’s views on what it means to be powerful. His thoughts on outsiders in Wakanda. And then, what Coogler says Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige considers the most honorable thing a character has ever done in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, when M’Baku doesn’t take the power of the Black Panther. So much going on in such a short amount of time—which is why this movie is so great.