WWE NXT Champion Oba Femi Took Inspiration From MCU Villain

Especially in recent years, the worlds of pro wrestling and comic book superheroes have become increasingly intertwined and inspired by each other. WWE NXT Champion Oba Femi can now be added to the list of wrestlers who openly credit comics (and the movies based on them) for influencing their onscreen persona, as revealed in an interview with Georgia's Fox54.

"The biggest inspiration was, of course, Thanos from 'Infinity War,'" Femi said. "He was just such a memorable character, with so many quotable lines."

Thanos served as the overarching antagonist for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from "The Avengers" in 2011 to "Avengers: Endgame" in 2019. He's best known for snapping his fingers with the Infinity Gauntlet and turning half of the universe's denizens into dust for five years, until his actions were reversed in "Endgame."

Along with the Avengers villain, Femi named his father and several friends from back home as inspirations for his character. After growing up in Nigeria, Femi attended college in the United States, where he was a track and field star who signed with WWE's NIL program. He made his in-ring debut in 2022 and became one of NXT's breakout performers over the following year.

Femi held the WWE NXT North American Championship for most of 2024 before dropping the title to Tony D'Angelo during the CW debut of "WWE NXT." He is the current WWE NXT Champion, with many predicting a bright future for the 27-year-old. Femi's most recent title defense took place at WWE NXT Heatwave last month, with the champion getting a controversial win over challenger Je'Von Evans.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Fox54 with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.