'Black Panther' cast news, spoilers: Winston Duke cast as Man-Ape

"Black Panther" has cast another villain for the film's titular hero to face.

According to Variety, Winston Duke has been cast as M'Baku, one of the film's main villains. In the Marvel Comics, M'Baku, who is also known as Man-Ape, is a frequent adversary of Black Panther. Like T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), he is one of Wakanda's strongest and most powerful warriors.

Prior to his casting in Marvel's upcoming Black Panther stand-alone film, Duke, a relatively new actor, appeared in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Person of Interest," "Major Crimes," and "The Messengers." Variety reports that the actor is a recent graduate of the Yale School of Drama.

Before casting Duke in "Black Panther," Marvel was reportedly testing several actors for the role of M'Baku. These included Yahya Abdul-Mateen II of "The Get Down" (2016) and "Baywatch" (2017).

Duke will join fellow "Black Panther" actors Boseman, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, and Michael B. Jordan in the Ryan Coogler-helmed project. Like Duke, Jordan is also playing a character who is at odds with T'Challa. In the Marvel Comics, his Erik Killmonger was a supervillain and the nemesis of Black Panther.

Boseman made his big screen debut as T'Challa/Black Panther in this year's "Captain America: Civil War."

In a recent interview with Yahoo! Movies U.K., Boseman clarified that while Marvel fans already saw T'Challa in full Black Panther mode in "Civil War," the film does not serve as the superhero's origin story.

"'Civil War' was a jumping off point for the Black Panther character," the actor said. "It's not necessarily an origin story because he remains a mystery through most of the movie. When I take the mask off and it's revealed that it's the Prince of Wakanda, that's the guy whose father was just killed — it's a surprise [...] So then, you're learning — as you watch the movie — what his powers are, because you're not sure. He remains a mystery through most of the movie."

"Black Panther" is set for a Feb. 16, 2018 release.