- Winston Duke has signed with United Talent Agency (UTA) for representation in all areas, leaving WME.
- His UTA team includes agents Billy Lazarus, David Morris IV, Erik Telford, Hanley Baxter and Yasmine Pearl.
- Duke keeps Shafran PR for publicity.
- UTA will also help build out Duke's Papa Bois Productions banner, on top of his return as M'Baku in Avengers: Doomsday and Ryan Coogler's Black Panther 3.
Winston Duke has signed with UTA for representation in all areas, exiting from from WME. He continues to be represented by Shafran PR.
Duke, born in Tobago and raised in Brooklyn, broke out as M’Baku in Marvel’s Black Panther, which grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide in 2018. He reprised the role in Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, where M’Baku becomes King of Wakanda.
Duke returns as M’Baku in December’s Avengers: Doomsday, and it was confirmed at Comic-Con that he’ll appear in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther 3, due in 2028. Following his breakout in Black Panther, Duke starred opposite Lupita Nyong’o in Jordan Peele’s Us, which brought in close to $260 million globally in 2019.
Duke’s new UTA team (Billy Lazarus, David Morris IV, Erik Telford, Hanley Baxter, and Yasmine Pearl) will also partner with him on Papa Bois Productions, his label for documentary, TV and feature projects.
Up next, Duke lends his voice to the animated film Slime, alongside Teyana Taylor, LaKeith Stanfield, Kid Cudi and Willow Smith.
The signing fits a busy July for UTA. Earlier in the month, Anthony Ramos left CAA for UTA. Days later, Breaking Bad‘s Giancarlo Esposito parted ways with CAA to sign with UTA too.
Takeaways
UTA just landed one of Marvel’s most bankable supporting stars right as his highest-stakes stretch begins; two more Black Panther-universe films are on the way. That’s a strong bet on a franchise that isn’t slowing down.
The signing also reads as part of a bigger pattern: UTA has now pulled three high-profile names (Duke, Ramos, and Esposito) away from rival agencies in a matter of weeks, all in July 2026 alone.
UTA isn’t just chasing acting credits here. By stepping in to help grow Papa Bois Productions, the agency is betting on Duke’s future as a producer, not just an actor – a move that mirrors how agencies increasingly court talent as multi-hyphenate businesses rather than single-lane clients.
Is UTA’s July signing spree a sign of a broader shift in agency power, or a short-term hot streak? Could Duke’s expanding Papa Bois Productions slate eventually rival his acting output in industry attention?
