that line from Okoye in Infinity War
holy fuuuuck i want to see M’Baku’s reaction to Wakanda taking part in the Olympics
he would hit. the. fucking. roof. t’challa would start hiding out in shuri’s lab because otherwise M’Baku would be lying in wait for him around every corner, ready to loom over him and bellow about the shame of it, the shame of participating in this disgraceful Western farce run by corrupt bureaucrats and denigrated by colonial governments who force their athletes to cheat, this abomination that achieves naught but squandered resources and the enrichment of the few at the expense of the many.
then when t’challa says that, ‘well, fine, I understand and respect your feelings brother, perhaps the Jabari could stage an act of peaceful protest by refusing to participate? :)’
and fucking smoke issues forth from M’Baku’s nostrils and his eyes turn blood-red and he roars at the top of his lungs that how dare T’Challa try to humiliate his people by suggesting that they not be counted among the top sportsmen in the world, there will be recompense for this insult!!!!!!!
and then he storms off and tells his best warriors to start training right the fuck now before he has them all flayed, and a few months later the Jabari have won gold medals in every event
‘pah. these trinkets mean nothing,’ says M’Baku, wearing seventeen of them
Ok but consider: Nakia wreaking absolute havoc on the Olympic Committee in a series of devastating board meetings and equally devastating outfits
What? You’re used to having indentured servants build the arenas because they have to work off their citizenship sponsorship? That’s cool, Wakanda will sponsor visas for literally all of them right now so we can pay them a fair wage and they can work for the civil service after the games. Oh we need to talk about the supposed ~issue~ of trans athletes? Don’t worry, Wakanda drafted legislation protecting trans and two-spirit people centuries ago, just sign here :)) sweetie :))) Yes Thank you we’ll take the IOC’s money the exit is this way
And you better believe they would not let those announcements happen in French. Like. I mean maybe Nakia would be nice about it to their faces but there’s no WAY they’re gonna make anyone listen to that colonizer language, so Shuri is in charge of tech for the games and OOPS something goes wrong with the microphones so that any French is automatically translated into Wakandan, sorry Mr President what a silly mistake I can’t i m a g i n e how that happened
Meanwhile the Dora Milaje have all won at least two medals each, except Okoye, who is nominally on guard duty with T’Challa but is actually watching Wakanda kick the world’s ass from the best seats in the stadium and cackling
Tag: M’Baku
Ok seriously we’re not appreciating M’Baku enough?? Boy challenged T’challa, lost, accepted it and left. Then like 3 days later the king washed up on his shore and he’s like “aye I could use this to become king but nah let’s save the guy until he gets better” so now he has an unconscious, barely-clinging-to-life king in his living room, but he does everything to save him. Then the servants of that king show up, offer him the throne and the Black Panther serum which would pretty much make him invincible, and what does he do? Does he go “Mhm ok niiice” and accept it, thus becoming rightful king? Nope! He shows them the dying T’challa, who they bring back to life with the serum and leave. They ask for his army, but he doesn’t want to risk his people, but in the end realises they should stick together so he barges into the battle like the fucking Icon™ he is ok I just love M’Baku let’s give him the appreciation he deserves
M’baku is the personification of honour imo. You won’t find a defeated warrior with pride and honour like his that easy. Respecting his rival, the needs of his people and Wakanda itself??? Putting all that over his ego???? Someone raised that man right yo.
At the same time, we can’t forget T’Challa’s role in all this. He had M’Baku at his mercy, and could have easily killed him or gone out of his way to humiliate him. Instead he treated him as a fellow warrior with honor, and assured him that he respected his leadership of his tribe. That very much planted the seeds of M’Baku’s respect for him, and wound up serving as his own salvation.
It’s the rarest of unicorns – two competing alpha males whose masculinity isn’t toxic.
Rebellions are built on hope 