Erik Killmonger

Resurrection

Using his rings, the Mandarin was able to amplify the Resurrection Altar and restore Killmonger to life. Killmonger returned to his lover and ally, Madam Slay, and the two plotted to kill the Black Panther and return Wakanda to its ancient ways.

While Tony Stark visited Wakanda, Madam Slay drugged Jim Rhodes and took him prisoner. Killmonger appeared to have killed the Black Panther, and blamed Rhodes and Stark, convincing the Wakandans that he could lead them to vengeance. The Black Panther returned, revealing that he had faked his death using a Life Model Decoy. The Black Panther defeated Killmonger. The Mandarin recalled his ring, and Killmonger reverted to an inanimate skeleton. Killmonger's followers resurrected him again and he would clash with T'Challa on several other occasions.

Wakanda takeover

In the wake of the sorcerer Reverend Achebe's attempted takeover of Wakanda, with T'Challa absent and control of the country left with his regent Everett Ross, Killmonger tried to gain control of the country via its economy, forcing T'Challa to stop him by nationalizing all foreign companies in Wakanda and cause a run on the stock market. The two foes fought in a vicious ritual combat over the right to rule the country, and Killmonger was finally able to defeat his foe and gain the status of Black Panther for his own. He maintained control of Wakanda for a while and even attempted to inherit T'Challa's Avengers status, but when he underwent the ascension rite needed to cement his position, his body had a severe reaction to the heart-shaped herb that he was required to consume - it was poisonous to all but the royal bloodline. Although it would have been convenient to allow him to die, and be unquestionably entitled to the position of the Black Panther, T'Challa preserved his rival's life.

Killmonger eventually came out of his coma, thus reclaiming his position as chieftain over Wakanda. He went to New York and contacted Kasper Cole, an inner-city police officer masquerading as the Black Panther to help him with cases, and attempted to gain him as an ally (and one-up T'Challa) by offering him a buffered version of the Panther's heart-shaped herb and help finding his supervisor's kidnapped son. In exchange, he had to drop the Panther identity and take up that of a White Tiger acolyte of the Panther cult, and would owe Killmonger a favor. While Kasper agreed to this, he then used his new herb-enhanced abilities to track down the boy on his own to avoid owing Killmonger an unpayable debt.

T'Challa is then once again the sole ruler of Wakanda when Killmonger resurfaces and takes control of the neighboring country of Niganda.^[3] During a subsequent duel with T'Challa, Killmonger is killed by Monica Rambeau, whom he had previously captured and imprisoned. Killmonger's young son is last seen swearing vengeance against the Black Panther, much like N'Jadaka had done years earlier after the death of his own father.^[4]

Television

• Erik Killmonger appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes - Black Panther: Trouble in Wakanda, voiced by Keston John.^[5]
• Erik Killmonger appears in Avengers Assemble, voiced again by Keston John.^[6] This version is also a member of the Shadow Council. In the two-part episode "Shadow of Atlantis", Killmonger hires Tiger Shark to break into the Wakandan Embassy to steal a jar containing the crest of the Wakandan Royal Family. After escaping with the seal with the Avengers pursuing him, Tiger Shark contacts Killmonger for an extraction only for Killmonger to turn him down upon failing to have his heist go off without a hitch. In the third episode "Into the Deep", Erik takes to the role of ambassador of Wakanda to the city of Atlantis and its king Attuma while secretly working to spring Tiger Shark from captivity. Revealing his true colors to both Attuma and Wakandan Royals T'Challa, who secretly snuck into the sunken city, and Shuri, who was invited as a diplomatic guest, Killmonger detonated Wakandan tech depthcharges which threatened to destroy Attuma's kingdom while the villains made their escape.^[7]

Film

Michael B. Jordan portrays Erik Killmonger in Black Panther (2018).^[8][9] This version is an American black-ops soldier named Erik Stevens but born N'Jadaka^[10] and earned his "Killmonger" nickname.^[11] Rather than a Wakandan exile, he is rewritten as the son of Prince N'Jobu and an American woman from Oakland, California, and is also T'Challa's cousin. Also unlike the comics, his chest is covered with self-inflicted scarification dots, one for each of his confirmed kills. Seeking revenge for the death of his father and angry at Wakanda's refusal to assist disenfranchised black people around the globe Killmonger challenges T'Challa for his birth rite to the throne. After becoming King he orders Wakanda's high-tech weapons be sent to marginalized groups in London, New York City and Hong Kong to help oppressed people rise up and over thrown the government. He wears a version of T'Challa's energy absorbing suit that, reminiscent of his comic book counterpart, has pronounced fangs and glows yellow when being used. At the climax of the film, he is mortally wounded when T'Challa stabs him in the chest with a vibranium spear, dying after watching the sunset over Wakanda.

Video games

• Erik Killmonger appears as a playable character in the Black Panther DLC pack for Lego Marvel's Avengers.^[12]
• Erik Killmonger appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, voiced by Damian Lynch.^[13] He appears in the Black Panther DLC that had no connection to the movie.
• Erik Killmonger, as seen in the Black Panther depiction, appears as a playable character in Marvel: Future Fight.^[14]
• Erik Killmonger, as seen in the Black Panther depiction, appears as a playable character in Marvel: Contest of Champions.^[15]

Music

• Erik Killmonger is referenced in the song "King's Dead" by rappers Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar and Future, from the 2018 film's soundtrack.