Ryan Coogler Tells Us What Happened to Killmonger's Mom

In Black Panther‘s upcoming Blu-ray release, director Ryan Coogler revealed some interesting information about Erik Killmonger’s mother over the commentary notes. Played by Michael B. Jordan, Killmonger already had a tragic story to begin with, growing up as an orphan in Oakland while his family ruled the technologically-advanced nation of Wakanda unbeknownst of his existence.

During the onset of the film, Killmonger’s father, N’Jobu (Sterling Brown) and his brother Zuri (Denzel Whitaker) are seen devising some sort of plan in an apartment. Coogler states, “The idea was when you see those guys talking over the paperwork in the beginning of the film, they’re talking about a way to break her out of jail. The idea was they never got her out, and she passed away in prison, so Killmonger didn’t come up with a mom either.”

Director Francis Ford Copolla also reportedly saw an early cut of the film and expressed to Coogler that the most important part of the movie was when audiences learned about T’Chaka (T’Challa’s father) killing N’Jobu after learning about his plans to arm oppressed people with Vibranium. ”It’s the original sin of Wakanda and the original sin of T’Chaka,” Coogler explained.

For additional commentary and deleted scenes, Black Panther will release digitally on May 8 and on disc May 15.