The Woman King's fight choreographer, Jénel Stevens, recently explained how the Agojie warriors differ from Black Panther's Dora Milaje. The historical sword-and-sandal epic is set in 1823. It stars Viola Davis as General Nanisca, the leader of the Agojie, the all-female legion of warriors from the West African Kingdom of Dahomey. Nanisca serves the new King Ghezo (John Boyega) and commands her army to free Dahomey from its tributary status with the Oyo Empire. The film stars Thuso Mbedu as recruit Nawi, Lashana Lynch as the cocky Lieutenant Izogie, and Sheila Atim as Nanisca's longtime friend Lieutenant Amenza.
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The legend of the Agojie warriors inspired Marvel Comics to create the Dora Milaje, the all-women royal guard charged with protecting the Black Panther. The fictional battalion was brought to life for the 2018 Marvel Cinematic Universe smash hit, Black Panther, starring the late Chadwick Boseman as the titular superhero and The Walking Dead's Danai Gurira as the leader of the Dora Milaje, Okoye. The Dora Milaje are set to return to the big screen in the highly-anticipated conclusion to the MCU's Phase Four, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
In a recent interview with Comicbook.com, Stevens detailed how the Agojie and the Dora Milaje differ. Before her work on The Woman King, Stevens was a stunt performer for Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame as Dora Milaje. The choreographer explained that the Agojie and Dora Milaje's movements and fighting styles were quite different. While the MCU warriors were "more twirly and flowery and visually appealing," the Agojie were more direct and "functional" as there was "no fantasy to it," as their movements were designed for "killing somebody else." Read what Stevens said below.
"With the Dora, we were trained to be in sync with each other, like a military unit. I guess the only correlation there was the Agojie were military as well, but they didn't have the same system, if you will, and each one had their own different weapon. And as you knew in the movie, they come from different backgrounds, so training them to make sure that the weapons were the extension of their hand was different than the Dora because the Dora, we all did spear."
"And in [Black Panther] it was more twirly and flowery and visually appealing. In the Woman King, it was supposed to be more functional, more straight to the point, killing somebody else. So there was no real fantasy to it. And we used the basic striking patterns that, for me personally, I come from a Koli background, so that was a part of the system that we used to teach them these weapons for the Agojie. It was definitely different because now it was more to the point with the weapons, 'I'm going to kill you. I don't want it to look pretty.' This was a totally different approach and it meant something deeper for me to be a part of it. It was rooted in history, like I said, 1800s these women actually existed, and to embody that was unprecedented for me."
Stevens appears to understand that the Agojie and the Dora Milaje were given different fighting styles and movements because of the purpose of their projects. Black Panther is an adaptation of a superhero origin story designed for mass consumption by Marvel fans of all ages. The film is set in the MCU, a fantastical world of bright colors, flashy heroes, and morally-positive stories. The movements of the Dora Miljae reflect that intention. However, The Woman King is a tale inspired by the true story of real warriors in a world not so black-and-white. Although the film's purpose is also to entertain first and foremost, it must somewhat realistically realize what women were truly like in the 19th century. As they were real-life warriors notable for their ferocity in battle, the Agojie's tactics, weaponry, and fighting styles were designed to be historically accurate and efficient.
Both The Woman King and Black Panther feature African women in warrior roles generally portrayed by men, especially in the historical action-epic genre. Stevens managed to bring the Agojie's fierceness to the screen, a battle-hardened resolve they reportedly had during their fights with men from other tribes and empires. Although Black Panther's Dora Milaje are far more elaborate by design than the warriors in The Woman King, their depiction as strong warriors dedicated to Wakanda and its royal family honor the real Agojie that inspired them.