M’Baku made his comic book debut in 1969 in an issue of The Avengers as one of the many warriors inhabiting Wakanda. He was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema as an antagonist for Wakanda’s king T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman on screen), who had joined the Avengers as a superhero. M’Baku plotted to usurp the throne of Wakanda with the help of the outlawed rival White Gorilla Cult and return Wakanda to a primitive state. He challenged T’Challa to a ritual combat for the kingship, and managed to defeat him by toppling a giant panther statue on him. However, the statue crumbled and buried M’Baku instead, while T’Challa was rescued by his allies.

M’Baku survived and followed T’Challa to New York, where he allied himself with the Grim Reaper and his Lethal Legion, a team of villains who wanted to destroy the Avengers. He kidnapped T’Challa’s girlfriend Monica Lynne and lured him into a trap, but was defeated by Captain America. T’Challa declared that M’Baku would face death if he ever returned to Wakanda, so M’Baku became a mercenary and wandered around the world.

M’Baku joined forces with other villains several times in his quest for power and revenge. He was part of the second incarnation of the Lethal Legion, led by Count Nefaria, who tried to blackmail Washington D.C. with a nuclear bomb but were stopped by the Avengers. He also joined Baron Zemo’s Masters of Evil, who invaded and occupied Avengers Mansion and fought against Hercules, Black Knight, Captain Marvel and Ant-Man. M’Baku was eventually captured by Ant-Man’s ants and taken to prison.

M’Baku resurfaced during the Civil War event, when he sided with Iron Man’s pro-registration forces against Captain America’s anti-registration rebels. He was part of Iron Man’s team that ambushed Captain America’s team at an airport in Germany, but was knocked out by Spider-Man. He later escaped from prison with other villains during a massive breakout orchestrated by Electro.

M’Baku continued to cause trouble for Black Panther and Wakanda in various ways. He tried to assassinate T’Challa during his wedding with Storm, but was thwarted by Luke Cage and Shang-Chi. He also attempted to overthrow T’Challa’s sister Shuri, who became the new Black Panther after T’Challa was critically injured by Doctor Doom. He formed an alliance with Morlun, a vampire-like being who feeds on totems like Black Panther, but was killed by Morlun after he betrayed him.

M’Baku was resurrected by Baron Macabre, a sorcerer who served Erik Killmonger, another enemy of Black Panther. He gained supernatural abilities such as summoning undead warriors and controlling animals. He fought against Shuri and her allies in Necropolis, the city of the dead, but was defeated again.

Besides comics, M’Baku has appeared in other media as well. He was featured in the animated series Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. He also appeared in the video games Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 and Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 as a boss character.

However, his most notable appearance was in the 2018 live-action film Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa/Black Panther. M’Baku was portrayed by Winston Duke, who gave him a more sympathetic and humorous personality than his comic book counterpart. He was still the leader of the Jabari tribe and a rival of T’Challa, but he also helped him against Killmonger and his forces in the final battle. He also had a cameo in Avengers: Infinity War, where he fought alongside the Avengers and the Wakandans against Thanos’ army.