When Black Panther hit movie screens in 2018, it blew the minds of the vast majority of people who saw it. The story was incredible as was the film’s depiction of Wakanda, an iconic location in Marvel Comics. And while he had already debuted as the character, Chadwick Boseman was amazing as the titular hero and defender of his home.
But a hero is only as good as their villain and this film had a powerhouse in the form of Erik Killmonger. This lost son of Wakanda wanted to do right by his people. He just chose the wrong way to do it. That being said, there were several things he did that were almost heroic in their own way.
10 He Didn’t Plan On Killing Anyone
Part of Killmonger’s plan was to defeat T’Challa, taking both the mantle of Black Panther as well the leadership of Wakanda. He ultimately defeated T’Challa in combat to take those titles as was the custom in Wakanda.
But the only reason that Killmonger tried to take his cousin out was because of those traditions. He played the game against himself, which was exactly what he was trained to do. He also didn’t really want to kill anyone, except for Zuri who had betrayed his father.
9 He Fought To Save The World
Before Erik Killmonger teamed up with Ulysses Klaue to make a play for Wakanda, he was an American soldier and CIA operative. He was trained by these forces to do some incredibly dirty work that was likely bloody and violent.
That in and of itself wasn’t particularly heroic. But he spent much of that time trying to help the world be a better place. Well, hopefully, at least. It’s really hard to say what kind of business he actually got up to during that era.
8 He Wanted To Lead A Stronger Wakanda
There were a number of reasons that Killmonger made his Wakandan debut in the movie. He grew up across the world after the murder of his father at the claws of King T’Chaka. That act sent him on an extremely dark path.
Part of his plan was to take the leadership of Wakanda away from T’Challa, which he temporarily did. But his goal was to build Wakanda into more of a global powerhouse as well as a stronger nation than it had been before.
7 He Revealed The Truth About T’Chaka
As a child, Erik lived in Los Angeles with his father, though there were two things he wasn’t aware of. He didn’t know that his father was planning terrorist attacks and he didn’t know that his uncle was coming to visit. T’Chaka killed his own brother and left Erik alone to fend for himself.
When Erik Killmonger arrived in Wakanda, he revealed the truth to T’Challa as well as the rest of his family. The lie that had been perpetuated for years by T’Chaka and Zuri needed to be revealed. Erik absolutely did the right thing by doing so.
6 He Inspired T’Challa To Do Better
The T’Challa essentially inherited Wakanda from his father with the goal of maintaining the status quo. To be frank, the status quo was pretty good. This was a secretly wealthy and technologically advanced country with a superb standard of living for its people.
At the same time, Wakanda hid from the world and did nothing to make it a better place. Killmonger’s actions, albeit questionable, also inspired T’Challa to open Wakanda to the world and actually do some good for a change.
5 He Took Over In An Almost Bloodless Coup
As previously mentioned, Erik Killmonger took over Wakanda by beating T’Challa and taking the country from him. What was interesting about this plan was that it could have gone a lot differently.
Yes, T’Challa was beaten almost to death, and Killmonger then straight-up murdered Zuri. At the same time, there could have been a lot more dead bodies on the ground when he took power. From the perspective of running a coup, it was actually kind of orderly.
4 He Tried To Build His People Up
Killmonger’s father had a goal of bringing Wakanda into the world, then using its vast wealth and resources to lift up Black people living in it. Honestly, it wasn’t a terrible plan, which is why Killmonger continued with it when he was old enough.
Ultimately, what Erik wanted was to empower his brothers and sisters around the world against their various oppressors. Again, it was certainly an admirable goal, and one that left T’Challa asking himself some serious questions after his cousin’s death.
3 He Saw Wakanda As A World Leader
At the core of Erik Killmonger’s violent crimes was his belief that Wakanda could actually do something positive for the rest of the world. While he planned to do this in a violent way, that doesn’t change what was at the base of everything.
Unlike pretty much everyone else in Wakanda, Killmonger actually believed that the country could and should be a world leader. That type of vision is what a hero generally brings to the table in most situations.
2 He Essentially Revealed Wakanda To The World
For untold centuries, Wakanda used the power of the Vibranium mound to turn itself into a technological marvel. But it also used that power and technology to hide itself from the rest of the world. It hoarded this resource for its own purposes.
Erik Killmonger did not personally reveal the truth about Wakanda to the rest of the world. But his actions did change the way T’Challa viewed Wakanda and its relationship with that same world. Without him, the status quo would have been maintained.
1 He Killed Ulysses Klaue
Wakanda’s greatest enemy by far was Ulysses Klaue. The terrorist and thief had breached Wakanda’s defenses, stealing a significant quantity of Vibranium. Tragically, many Wakandans lost their lives in the process.
For decades, agents of Wakanda tried to bring Klaue down and failed. In the end, it was Killmonger who ended Klaue’s reign of terror and dragged his corpse back to Wakanda as proof that justice had finally been served.
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