Dora Milaje

The Dora Milaje are fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are a team of women who serve as special forces for the fictional African nation of Wakanda.

Dora Milaje
Dora Milaje in Doomwar #5 (August 2010).
Art by Scot Eaton
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceBlack Panther, vol. 3 #1 (November 1998)
Created byChristopher Priest
Mark Texeira

Members of the Dora Milaje appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Captain America: Civil War (2016), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), and the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and What If...? (both 2021).

Publication history

The Dora Milaje first appeared in Black Panther, vol. 3 #1 (November 1998), created by writer Christopher Priest and artist Mark Texeira.[1] Priest, however, claimed that credit for their creation really should go to his Marvel Knights editors Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada, "who thought it would be great if the Panther had female bodyguards."[2] The Dora Milaje share similarities with the Dahomey Amazons (Agoji), the all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey,[3][4][5] which was located in West Africa in what is now the Republic of Benin.

The 2017 series "World of Wakanda" written by Roxane Gay and Yona Harvey, tells the story of the couple Ayo and Aneka, two former Dora Milaje.[6][7]

In the 2018 limited series Wakanda Forever, written by Nnedi Okorafor, the Dora Milaje act in team-ups with Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Avengers.[8][9]

Fictional character biography

To keep peace in Wakanda, the Black Panther picked dora milaje ("adored ones") from rival tribes to serve as his personal guard and ceremonial wives-in-training.[10]

Members
  • Aneka - A former leader of the Dora Milaje. She was arrested and stripped of her rank after killing a chieftain who had been victimizing the women in her village. After escaping, she became half of the vigilante duo known as the Midnight Angels.[11]
  • Asira - The princess of the Jabari tribe.[12]
  • Ayo - Aneka's lover and another former Dora Milaje.[10] After Aneka was arrested and sentenced to death, Ayo broke her out of prison. Using a pair of prototype armored suits, the two became the Midnight Angels.[11]
  • M'yra - A member of the Dora Milaje who lost her right arm. She was reassigned to protect Shuri.[13]
  • Nareema - A Dora Milaje member who helped Storm fight the V-Series Doombots.[14]
  • Nakia – A Wakandan Mutate with superhuman strength, speed, and agility. She is a former Dora Milaje of T'Challa.[15]
  • Okoye – A former Dora Milaje.[15] Okoye is of the J'Kuwali tribe and acted as a traditional, proper concomitant to the king, speaking only to him and only in Hausa, an African language not widely spoken in Wakanda and thus affording the king and his wives a measure of privacy.
  • Queen Divine Justice – The street-smart queen of the Jabari tribe of Wakanda raised in Chicago, and former Dora Milaje of T'Challa.[16] She originally went by the name Chanté Giovanni Brown.[17]
  • Zola - The headmistress of the Dora Milaje who trained Aneka, Ayo, and Nakia.[18]

Collected editions
Title Material collected Pages Date Published ISBN
World of Wakanda Black Panther: World of Wakanda #1–6 144 June 27, 2017 978-1302906504
Wakanda Forever Amazing Spider-Man: Wakanda Forever, X-men: Wakanda Forever, Avengers: Wakanda Forever, Black Panther Annual vol. 2 #1 136 November 6, 2018 978-1302913588

In other media

Television

Marvel Cinematic Universe
Main article: Dora Milaje (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

The Dora Milaje appear in live-action media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Video games

References
  1. DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
  2. Johnston, Rich (October 6, 2018). "Priest Credits Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti For Dora Milaje - 20 Years of Marvel Knights at Cup O'Joe NYCC 2018". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  3. Carter, Terry (February 24, 2018). "The Female Warriors Who Inspired Black Panther's Dora Milaje Are Freakin' Badass". Popsugar. Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  4. Jones, Ellen E. (October 23, 2019). "Warrior Women With Lupita Nyong'o review – a kick-ass tale worthy of an Oscar". The Guardian.
  5. Coleman, Arica L. (February 22, 2018). "There's a True Story Behind Black Panther's Strong Women. Here's Why That Matters". Time. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  6. Scott, Sydney (November 11, 2016). "Roxane Gay And Yona Harvey Didn't Hesitate To Take On The 'World Of Wakanda'". Essence. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  7. Dockterman, Eliana (July 28, 2017). "Roxane Gay on How to Build a More Inclusive Comic Book Industry". Time.
  8. McMillan, Graeme (March 16, 2018). "'Wakanda Forever' Brings Dora Milaje to the Rest of the Marvel Universe". The Hollywood Reporter.
  9. Markus, Tucker Chet (March 16, 2018). "Fighting for Wakanda Forever". Marvel Entertainment.
  10. Broadnax, Jamie (February 21, 2018). "Get to know the Dora Milaje, Black Panther's mighty women warriors". Vox.com.
  11. Black Panther vol. 6 #1. Marvel Comics.
  12. Black Panther Vol. 3 #13. Marvel Comics.
  13. Black Panther Vol. 5 #7. DC Comics.
  14. Doomwar #4. Marvel Comics.
  15. Black Panther Vol. 3 #1. Marvel Comics.
  16. Black Panther Vol.3 #16-17. Marvel Comics.
  17. "Queen Divine Justice". Marvel Universe. June 23, 2006. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  18. Black Panther: World of Wakanda #1. Marvel Comics.
  19. "Voice Of Dora Milaje - Black Panther". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved March 12, 2018. Check mark indicates role has been confirmed using screenshots of closing credits and other reliable sources{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  20. "Voice Of Aneka - Avengers Assemble". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved December 14, 2017. Check mark indicates role has been confirmed using screenshots of closing credits and other reliable sources{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  21. "The Zemo Sanction". Avengers Assemble. Season 5. Episode 5. October 14, 2018. Disney XD.
  22. "Widowmaker". Avengers Assemble. Season 5. Episode 21. February 17, 2019. Disney XD.
  23. Goldman, Eric (May 25, 2018). "Okoye Works To Help Save Shuri In New 'Lego Marvel Super Heroes – Black Panther: Trouble In Wakanda' Short". Marvel News. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018.
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