In a 2018 interview, Chadwick Boseman made a surprising claim. He argued that the real villain of Black Panther was his character, Prince T’Challa, who represents the desire to hold onto power and privilege above all else. Conversely, the film’s hero was its highly sympathetic antagonist Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). Killmonger’s father was a Wakandan prince and a War Dog —a member of the isolationist nation’s intelligence service, who believed the highly advanced country should work to make life better for people of African descent around the world. In Black Panther, Killmonger takes up his father’s cause and challenges his cousin for the throne. T’Challa represents the country’s conservative status quo, while Killmonger is a violent revolutionary pushing for change.