Explained: How is Agojie of The Woman King different from Black Panther's Dora Milaje?

In light of the release of The Woman King, Marvel fans can't help but find similarities between the Agojies of The Woman King and the Dora Milajes seen in Black Panther. Viola Davis's latest project is a historical epic that chronicles the experiences of the Agojie, a real-life all-female squad of historic warriors, who protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s.

In The Woman King Davis plays the leader of the Agojie, General Nanisca. The all-female makeup of this African warrior tribe comes off as very similar to Black Panther's Dora Milaje, a military band of women and a special forces unit for Wakanda, a fictional African nation. Moreover, there are also a lot of similarities between the fight scenes of the two tribes as seen in the movies. Read on to see how the two bands of military women are very different from each other.

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How are the Agojies different from Dora Milajes?

Stunt choreographer Jénel Stevens, who worked on both Black Panther and The Woman King, has commented on the fight scenes and the differences between the two groups, saying,

"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."

The Doras' fight scenes were more stylized as they fought with grace, and their movements were choreographed accordingly. However, the Agojies are only concerned about being ruthless killers and taking out their targets.

Stevens further commented on the same:

"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."

Stevens has also talked about her own background, which deeply impacted the movements choreographed:

"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."

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How is The Woman King and Black Panther related?

Despite stylistic differences between the two warrior groups, as is evidently clear in the movies, it is actually the legend of the Agojie that originally inspired the creation of Dora Milaje, the all-female royal guard of Black Panther. The movie starring Chadwick Bosman was a massive box office success.

Davis has explained how Black Panther helped The Woman King get produced. Hollywood's sad history of ignoring Black characters and actors and marginalizng Black audiences made it difficult for any Black-character-centric features to get produced. It was only due to the financial accomplishments of Black Panther that the industry changed its orientation, allowing The Woman King to be produced.

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Catch The Woman King, now playing in theaters, and look out for Black Panther II, which is scheduled for release soon.