Back when Christopher Priest started his iconic run on Black Panther, he introduced the bad-ass group of warrior women known as the Dora Milaje. In the comics, these women were taken from different tribes to act as Bodyguards for the Wakandan King, T’Challa. However, they also served a much ‘creepier‘ purpose – in the sense that they also act as the regents ‘Wives in training‘, which has recently been revealed is something that we won’t be seeing in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movie.
As part of a recent visit to the set, the film’s Producer, Nate Moore explained the decision to drop this aspect from the characters backstory. When the subject was brought up, Moore explained to the journalists present:
“You know, that was sort of part of the original Christopher Priest run where they were all betrothed which we felt wasn’t necessary to tell the story of the Dora and in a way we all kind of rejected as being a little creepy, So we will not be exploring that.”
He also revealed a bit of information on how the group fit into the universe that they are creating for the film. He explained:
“One of the things that we love about the property of Black Panther is that there are so many interesting roles around him, Whether it be Ramonda, his mother; his sister, Shuri; Zuri, who is an advisor and a contemporary to T’Chaka’s and sort of a last link to his father. Ryan was really interested in exploring those relationships. Also, I think building out his relationship with the Dora Milaje, this group of all female, sort of Seal Team Six special forces women but making them all characters, making them all individuals rather than, again, this monolithic force of ass-kickers. That would be fun, and we’d always thought that’d be fun, but what we didn’t expect and what he really wanted to explore is the depth of the emotional connections between T’Challa and those individuals.”
The idea of giving the members of the elite guard their own characteristics was introduced in Priest’s run with one member going onto become a for for the character, but has also been explored in Ta-Nehisi Coates recent run on the series with the introduction of Ayo and Aneka, who went on to become the vigilante duo known as the Midnight Angels. It sounds like this is something which will carry over into the film with Moore adding.
“They’re a big part of the movie, As you guys know Danai Gurira plays Okoye who, in our world, is the head of the Dora and a pivotal character in the movie. Exploring how they work, their role in Wakanda and their relationship with the King is a big part of the storytelling.”
It certainly sounds as though the characters are going to be given more to do in the film than merely act as soldiers. Black Panther is set to introduce Nakia, Okoye and Xoliswa portrayed by Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira and Sydelle Noel respectively whilst Ayo will return from Captain America: Civil War with the role to be reprised by Florence Kasumba.
We will see these ladies kick some serious ass when Black Panther hits theaters on February 16th.
What do you think? Are you happy this backstory is dropped? Are you excited to see the Dora Milaje on the screen? Let us know below!