Marvel's Black Panther already had one of the most remarkable cast lists we've seen in a long time. However, it turns out it's got at least one more surprise, and one more villain, left to show us. Singer Nabiyah Be has taken to Twitter to announce her feature film debut. She won't be playing simply any character in the new movie, as her post identifies her character as Tilda Johnson, a name Marvel Comics fans will recognize as a villain named Nightshade.
The image above that was posted to Twitter is from the first trailer that was released, so the information was technically there, though it appears that Nabiyah Be wasn't recognized, and there's really nothing to identify the character she's playing as Nightshade. She's standing next to Michael B. Jordan, who will be playing Erik Killmonger in Black Panther, so it would seem that the pair will be working together, or perhaps Nightshade is working for Killmonger.
In the comics Tilda Johnson has gone by several slightly different monikers, from Dr. Nightshade to Deadly Nightshade, to simply Nightshade. The Dr. honorarium may be the most telling as when the character was first introduced back in the early 1970s, she was a scientist who turned people into werewolves to fight Captain America. Since then, the character has been an antagonist for the likes of Luke Cage and Black Panther.
We don't really expect werewolves to make an appearance in the Black Panther movie, but that doesn't mean that Nightshade won't feature prominently in the new movie or that her scientific skill set won't be used. Based on this single image, we'd guess that Nightshade will be Erik Killmonger's right-hand, that is where she's standing after all. She could just be a glorified henchman, but she could also be the brains behind whatever Killmonger is up to, and since Marvel is playing the long game, there could be a lot planned down the road for Nightshade.
In addition to Kilmonger and Nightshade, we'll also be treated to M'Baku, aka Man-Ape as another villain in the new Black Panther film. With two major Marvel villains working together, it's possible that all three of them actually will be, or Man-Ape could be doing his own thing. It's also possible that Man-Ape will be a smaller character in the new film, for designed for setting up the future than actually be an antagonist in this movie. We know that Man-Ape is confirmed to appear in Avengers: Infinity War, which could imply he's being saved for a bigger role there.
