‘Black Panther’ on Netflix: All Hail M’Baku, Salad Daddy of the Mountains

There’s a lot in Black Panther to love. It’s a visually beautiful film, bursting with bright colors and exquisite costume. It’s got a brilliant ensemble of characters, each possessing their own complex point of view. Black Panther is fun, romantic, tragic, and thought-provoking. It’s a great film because director Ryan Coogler brought his uniquely emotional way of framing action and drama to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, proving that big budget action flicks can say bigger things about the human condition. Black Panther is, in a single word, phenomenal.

However, my favorite part of Black Panther might be a scene-stealing performance from one Winston Duke. The classically-trained actor plays M’Baku, leader of the Jabari Tribe, a vegetarian badass with the good sense to challenge an indulged young prince for the throne and to step up and defend Wakanda in her hour of need. He is a warrior and a would-be king. He is who the internet had dubbed “Salad Daddy” and, yes, I am here for him. I am very much here for the Salad Daddy of the Mountains and I don’t care who knows it.

When people lined up to see Black Panther in theaters back in February, we were promised a showdown between two of the hottest men in Hollywood: Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan. Boseman played the titular superhero, the young King T’Challa, and Jordan was his frightfully compelling antagonist, Killmonger. The two actors threw down spectacularly emotionally intelligent performances and gave us a thrilling couple of fights. However, like many others, I found myself taken with a third handsome young warrior in the flick: M’Baku.

M’Baku was strong. M’Baku was charismatic. M’Baku could make cannibal jokes. M’Baku was the best. And M’Baku seemingly…came out of nowhere. Like I said, the movie’s hotties were supposed to be Boseman, Jordan, and Sterling K. Brown. Winston Duke was not on anyone’s radar. To wit, this video went viral on twitter, summarizing what many of us Salad Daddy devotees felt deep in our hearts and souls.

If M’Baku stunned us with his regal hotness, it was probably all thanks to the extraordinary Winston Duke. For one, it was the Yale grad’s first major onscreen role. Before Black Panther, Winston Duke had only appeared in a string of small television parts — so how were we to know that he had that kind of star quality?? (HOW??) More importantly, Duke was just fantastic in the part. He had an innate regal bearing, a wry sense of humor, and a quiet intelligence. It doesn’t hurt that he’s naturally a tall man, but Duke fills his own frame with a steady confidence.

So when you settle in to watch Black Panther on Netflix later today — because, yes, Black Panther is now streaming on Netflix — bask in the glory of T’Challa and Shuri, Okoye and Nakia, and all the other brilliant characters. But don’t forget about the brilliant, vegetarian warrior king who lives in the mountains: “Salad Daddy” M’Baku.

Where to Stream Black Panther