The bond between a director and an actor can be sacred.
I've already talked about the cinematic relationship between Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro (as well as the partnership between Scorsese and DiCaprio). Hell, I've even talked about the partnership between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp.
That said, if there's one team that might beat them all, it’s the recent one between Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan. And, with the recent Sinners, the two of them have now collaborated on five films together. Here's why their partnership is already one for the ages.
Ryan Coogler Has Never Directed A Feature Length Film Without Michael B. Jordan
Yes, some of Scorsese's best movies star De Niro, but Scorsese has directed a number of films without his long-time collaborator (like, have you seen After Hours?).
The same goes for Burton and Depp. For those who are familiar with Akira Kurosawa, the famed director made 16 movies with Toshiro Mifune before they stopped working together entirely. But, Kurosawa made several movies without Mifune.
That said, while Coogler hasn't made nearly as many movies as Scorsese, Burton, or Kurosawa (Coogler currently has five), every single one of them either stars Michael B. Jordan, or features him.
Coogler's directorial debut, Fruitvale Station, was about the real-life events that culminated in the death of Oscar Grant, and Jordan played the lead role. Coogler’s second movie, 2015's Creed, continued the Rocky storyline by making Stallone the trainer, while focusing on the progeny of his best friend, Apollo Creed, played by Jordan. It's also one of the greatest Rocky movies of all time.
Coogler’s third film, Black Panther…well, you already know about that. It's one of the biggest movies of all time and featured Jordan as the antagonist, Killmonger. the filmmaker's fourth movie, 2022's Wakanda Forever, brought Jordan back as Killmonger, albeit in a much smaller role, and 2025's Sinners (which we gave a 5-star review), has twice the Michael B. Jordan for the price of one, because he plays two roles. So, yeah. Coogler and Jordan work together really well!
And Each Role Is Completely Different
One thing that’s really remarkable when you come to think about it is that each Jordan performance is completely different in every Coogler film. I mean, it's not strange that each character is different. What is strange is that Coogler has swerved in so many different directions, and yet, Jordan has always been up for the ride.
Case in point, Fruitvale Station. Jordan is no stranger to movies about social justice, but his portrayal of Oscar Grant was honestly Oscar-worthy. He played Grant as somebody who was both fantastically flawed, but also had so much potential.
This is both similar, but also vastly different from his portrayal as Adonis Creed. In this film, Jordan played a tough, but wounded, young man who was searching for his father, only to end up finding himself.
Compare this to Kilmonger, and you almost have a what-if scenario. For example, what if Kilmonger had somebody to guide him like Rocky did at a young age? It led to character work that made Killmonger one of Marvel’s best villains.
Which he returned to in Wakanda Forever, somehow being the same character, but even more sympathetic than the first time around. Lastly, with Sinners, Jordan plays two brothers who both seem to have the same heart, but different minds. It's a role that’s completely different from every other Coogler collaboration, and might just be the most special. Time will still tell on that one, though.
They've Worked On Established Properties, But Also New Projects
It’s often difficult to determine just what kind of director Ryan Coogler actually wants to be. Does he want to be a hired gun, working on established properties, as he did with Black Panther and Creed. Or, does he want to tell his own stories, as he did with the real-life retelling of the last hours of Oscar Grant’s life in Fruitvale Station, or like he did with the horror/crime hybrid, Sinners?
With the X-Files reboot being Coogler’s next major project, it looks like his answer to that question is, why not both?
And, if he does something, then there is always the possibility that he will reteam with Michael B. Jordan. This is why Coogler and Jordan’s partnership is all the more interesting. It’s because there really is no telling what stories they’ll make together.
For example, take Wakanda Forever. When the movie debuted, we had a feeling that Jordan would appear, even though his character died in the first one, but we weren’t quite sure how. But, the moment he did, it elevated the movie tenfold, and made it even more emotional, given Chadwick Boseman’s passing.
Then we have Sinners, which operates so outside the norm of what we currently have in Hollywood that you could argue that Coogler and Jordan are creating a whole new genre. It’s this mixture of established properties and new projects that makes the Coogler/Jordan partnership so spectacular.
They're Also Making Sure To Focus On Black Stories
One thing I absolutely adore about this partnership is that they almost seem to be exclusively focusing on Black stories.
Fruitvale Station is an obvious example, but Creed might not be so obvious, even though I definitely think it’s also a Black story. Adonis Creed is not Rocky Balboa. Not even close. Just as Rocky leaned into his Italian heritage (he wasn’t known as the “Italian Stallion” for nothing), Adonis is definitively Black.
He languished in foster care for several years, until Apollo’s widow, Mary Anne, adopted him. He struggled to fit into his new life, and often felt like there was just something missing until he learned to accept that all he needed was himself. This is a struggle that many Black American men go through, and the story feels like it’s told from a Black perspective (which it is).
The Black Panther movies are also definitively Black. Melding both African and African American experiences together, there’s a sort of unspoken conflict that sometimes exists between both communities that usually doesn’t get displayed in cinematic form (especially for big budget, tentpole movies), and both films are examples of this tacit tension.
Lastly, I’m not going to say much about Sinners just in case you haven’t seen it yet (even though you must), but this might be the Blackest story they've ever made together, and we’re all the better for it.
Their Partnership Doesn't Look Like It's Ending Anytime Soon
What’s Coogler doing next? It looks like the X-Files reboot. Then, possibly Black Panther 3. But, even if neither of those feature Jordan in any capacity, one thing I can say almost certainly is that they’ll find a way to work together again somehow.
Maybe it will be soon, or maybe it will be later, but I don’t see their partnership ending anytime soon, because they work so well together. All of their movies have felt so personal that their relationship, honestly, feels similar to that of Scorsese and De Niro – two people who work fine separately, sure, but put them together, and they create cinematic gold.
Jordan and Coogler just have something special together. I’ve seen several Michael B. Jordan movies (I first saw him on The Wire, and was blown away), but my favorite performances of his are definitely Smoke and Stack in Sinners, Adonis Creed, and Killmonger, in that order.
To think that Sinners would be Jordan’s and Coogler’s last time working together just seems impossible to me, and if that were the case, then I don’t want to watch movies anymore. Not if a partnership this perfect could come to an end.
What do you think? Are you also a fan of Coogler and Jordan’s work together? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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