Erik Killmonger



Erik Killmonger is a Marvel Comics supervillain and an enemy of the Black Panther. He served as the main villain of most of the Black Panther series and is an enemy of T'Challa. He is one of two the archenemies of Black Panther (the other being Klaw).

Biography
A native of Wakanda, he was born under the name N'Jadaka. When Ulysses Klaw and his mercenaries attacked Wakanda, they press-ganged N'Jadaka's father into helping them; when Klaw was defeated, the father died and his family was exiled. N'Jadaka ended up in Harlem, New York, nursing a hatred against the supervillain and T'Challa, the king who'd exiled him. He changed his name to Erik Killmonger and studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, desperate to avenge his father's death.

He eventually contacted King T'Challa and was repatriated back to Wakanda, settling in a village that would later change its name to N'Jadaka Village in his honour. He became a subversive, with dreams of ridding Wakanda of what he termed "white colonialist" cultural influences and return it entirely to its ancient ways. He then took advantage of the Black Panther's frequent absences in America with the Avengers to stage a coup d'état, along with Baron Macabre. He was defeated and killed, until the Mandarin claimed his body. Using his rings, the Mandarin was able to amplify the Resurrection Altar and restore him to life. Killmonger returned to his lover and ally, Madam Slay and the two plotted to kill the Black Panther and return Wakanda to its ancient ways.

While Tony Stark visited Wakanda, Madam Slay drugged Jim Rhodes and took him prisoner. Killmonger appeared to have killed the Black Panther, and blamed Rhodes and Stark, convincing the Wakandans that he could lead them to vengeance. The Black Panther returned, revealing that he had faked his death using an LMD. The Black Panther defeated Killmonger. The Mandarin recalled his ring, and Killmonger reverted to an inanimate skeleton. Killmonger's followers resurrected him again and he would clash with T'Challa on several other occasions.

Marvel Cinematic Universe
Erik Killmonger (aka Golden Jaguar) will appear as one of the two main antagonists, the other being Klaw, and primary antagonist of the 2018 film Black Panther. This version is a former American black-ops soldier turned revolutionary named Erik Stevens, who earned the nickname "Killmonger". He is portrayed by Michael B. Jordan (as his first villain role in his acting career).