We won’t even see Black Panther for the first time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe until Captain America: Civil War next year, but the superhero studio likes to plan ahead, and it looks like they may have their choice to direct T’Challa’s first big screen solo adventure.
Heroic Hollywood is all over the comic book movie beat, and according to their sources, Ryan Coolger, the director of Sundance sensation Fruitvale Station, and the upcoming Rocky spinoff Creed, is the one Marvel wants to helm Black Panther in 2018. Right now they aren’t able to specify how far along the talks are, or if a deal is close, so for now treat this as the rumor it is and put as much stock in it as you feel comfortable. We’ll see how it plays out.
After a few starts and stops, the last we heard on the Black Panther director front was that they studio was going to wait until they had a script in hand to hire a director, but if this report pans out, that point is apparently moot.
Coogler is prepping Creed for release in November, and though it will only be his second feature at the helm, he has already shown that he’s a talent to watch. Fruitvale Station was one of the big hits out of Sundance in 2013, and though most people haven’t seen it yet, Creed has been gathering a great deal of buzz and interest.
Selma director Ava DuVernay was linked to Black Panther for a while, and though she was offered the gig, she decided to sit it out, saying that though she was excited at the possibility, she ultimately didn’t think she could make both make the movie she wanted and the movie Marvel wanted. Straight Outta Compton’s F. Gary Gray was the most recent name being kicked around, but he just landed the Fast & Furious 8 directing job, which would likely cause conflict. Last we heard, Joe Robert Cole (Amber Lake) is getting close to a deal to write the script.
T’Challa, played by Chadwick Boseman, is the king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda, a technologically advanced society and a country rich in the rare metal vibranium, the stuff Captain America’s shield is made out of. Some of the early groundwork for his entrance into the MCU was laid in Avengers: Age of Ultron, which introduced Wakanda and Ulysses Klaue, one of Panther’s archenemies. Word on the street is that in Civil War he’s out for some sort of retribution for the death of his father, T’Chaka, and through some circumstances, he winds up on Iron Man’s side in the coming conflict that will tear apart the superhero world.
We’ll get our first look at Black Panther when Captain America: Civil War opens on May 6, 2016, and his solo adventure was recently moved up a few months, and will now drop on February 16, 2018.
