Back in 2018, Michael B. Jordan entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe and delivered one of the most highly-praised villain performances in franchise history with his role as Erik Killmonger in the Academy Award-winning Black Panther. Unfortunately, that movie ended with Jordan's villain accepting death after battling for the throne, leaving fans hungry for more of his complex and deep character.
While Erik Stevens met his end in the live-action MCU, fans got to see Jordan make his second appearance as the Black Panther antagonist in two episodes of What If...? on Disney+. The alternate reality-based story showed Killmonger leaning even more heavily toward his dark side as he took over Wakanda before teaming up with the Guardians of the Multiverse, only to betray them and take the Infinity Stones for himself.
As Marvel Studios looks ahead to the 2022 release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, rumors have teased that Jordan's Killmonger may be in for a return to the MCU narrative, even with his current living situation definitively placing him as dead. Jordan addressed these rumors once again, and while the actor confirmed nothing, he continued to share just how much he's loved his time with the MCU.
Michael B. Jordan on Rumors of a Marvel Return
In an interview with TikTok user @theoriesbyt, MCU star Michael B. Jordan hinted at the possibility of bringing his villainous Erik Killmonger back into the MCU.
When asked if he'd be down to bring the character back, possibly through the Multiverse, Jordan once again touched on how much he loves the role and the Marvel world as a whole. In the end, he avoided confirming that he was coming back, but he also teased the fact that Marvel always has things in the works, before asking: "Who knows?":
"Man, I mean, I think it’s a character and a world that I love so much. Who knows? But as we all know, Marvel has their plans and their things, and who knows how things are gonna shake out?”
Will Killmonger Come Back to the MCU?
Michael B. Jordan is quickly becoming one of the busiest men in Hollywood, already in line to produce a Superman project for Warner Bros. outside of his time with Marvel Studios. However, with the unbelievable impact that Killmonger has had on MCU fans for nearly four years, questions are always present regarding if and when the villain will make some kind of return.
The actor has cautiously avoided setting anything in stone on numerous occasions, even going so far as to lay out the conditions that would need to be in place for an MCU comeback to happen. Before the end of 2021, he went into depth on Killmonger being a misunderstood Marvel character and admitted that neither himself nor the late Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa were completely wrong.
Even for Marvel Studios' impressive villain ranks from the past few years, which includes Josh Brolin's Thanos and now Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin, Killmonger still stands on his own for many fans. He's been seen as one of the more relatable antagonists since his introduction in 2018, and he's often been praised for being somewhat right in his ideology, even though it would have resulted in World War III.
In the end, although Jordan's Killmonger is dead for the time being, the actor's comments seem to indicate that a return is very much in the cards. Whether that comes in the Black Panther sequel or a future project is unknown, but this is one name that shouldn't be kept off the radar in any way.
Black Panther and What If...? are available to stream on Disney+, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to debut in theaters on November 11, 2022.
