Panther or Luke Cage?

With all the attention being given to the A-listers, it seems like Marvel’s second-string comic characters have been getting the shaft. Guys like BLACK PANTHER and LUKE CAGE have thus far been denied the big-screen treatment, as The Man has clearly kept them down.

Not for much longer, if John Singleton has anything to say about it. He’s been attached to CAGE for years (possibly with actor/singer and robot-fighter Tyrese Gibson) but hasn’t been able to get the bulletproof brawler a fair shake. And now the 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS director tells Blackfilm he might try to help T’Challa to screens as well: “There is a race to see if I’m going to do ‘Luke Cage’ first or ‘Black Panther’. I really wanted to do both of those pictures. I’ve always been a fan of Marvel comics, so it depends. I can do ‘Cage’ or ‘Black Panther’. I’ve just been approached about doing ‘Black Panther’.“

Singleton also says that CAGE has a script but is battling Hollywood’s perception that the self-proclaimed Hero for Hire would be a “small superhero movie”. Which it sort of should be — a more grounded and gritty ghetto savior (or the politician/crimefighter dynamic of PANTHER) might be a welcome antidote to some of the brainless bigger-scale superhero flicks.