(Marvel/Disney)
While the fate of Erik Killmonger’s father is explicitly revealed in “Black Panther,” what isn’t obviously known is what happened to his mother. In a soon-to-be released Blu-Ray commentary, director Ryan Coogler shares Killmonger’s mother’s fate.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Killmonger’s father, N’Jobu met and fell in love with a woman from Oakland, Calif. Afterward, he had a change of heart about keeping Wakanda’s technology insular and desired to help people outside of the nation.
“The idea was when you see those guys talking over the paperwork in the beginning of the film, they’re talking about a way to break her out of jail,” Coogler says of the opening scene between N’Jobu and a young Zuri, who is a loyal companion to King T’Chaka. “The idea was they never got her out, and she passed away in prison, so Killmonger didn’t come up with a mom either.”
In response, several Twitter users couldn’t contain their anguish.
Oh, lawd… dis tew much! #damndamndamnjames pic.twitter.com/FfdWeeJoe4
— Sunn m’Cheaux (@sunnmcheaux) May 5, 2018
— PragmaticObotsUnite (@PragObots) May 5, 2018
https://twitter.com/themarvelousjas/status/992546114825080832
N’Jobu was ultimately killed by T’Chaka when he learned he planned on sharing Wakanda’s precious Vibranium with the world’s most oppressed people. Young Killmonger was left in Oakland alone so T’Chaka could keep the incident away from his nation.
When Killmonger grows up, he seeks to make his father’s vision a reality. Although he dies before he gets to witness the outcome, T’Challa, the Black Panther and current king of Wakanda, ends up sharing the country’s tech advancements with the world.
“Black Panther” is available on digital May 8 and Blu-Ray on May 15.
