Marvel Studios may be very close to getting one of their top choices to direct BLACK PANTHER, and it’d certainly be a good score for them.
According to Devin Faraci at Birth.Movies.Death, Ryan Coogler is in talks with the superhero juggernaut about taking the helm for BLACK PANTHER and directing Chadwick Boseman in the title role for the film’s 2018 release date.
Coogler has been on Marvel’s radar for awhile now, with rumblings that they were hoping to secure him before his calendar got too full once CREED hit theaters. With that film’s success – both commercially and critically – Coogler is a hot name in Hollywood, also following his accomplishment with FRUITVALE STATION, and, with the way the industry works, everyone wants a piece of someone like that for their picture as they continue their ascent.
For BLACK PANTHER, Marvel has been trying to find a black filmmaker, if possible, to sit in the director’s chair, much like they’d like to find the proper female fit for CAPTAIN MARVEL, and Coogler would fit the bill. For those who would be quick to point out that such a distinction shouldn’t be the only criteria Marvel is looking to check off in their search, it’s hard to argue with the strength of Coogler’s filmography so far as a legitimate candidate period.
The main question, if this pans out, is going to be how Coogler would be able to work within the Marvel machine. For all fans would like to see this person or that person direct a movie for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, quite often those filmmakers aren’t given the freedom to do what they’ve done to get them to that point within the confines of this shared universe. They have a lot of people to answer to, and, as evidenced in the past, they usually wind up executing the vision of Kevin Feige and the producers rather than telling their own stories.
Could that dynamic change a bit following the shake-up earlier this year? Could filmmakers be a bit more empowered as we move deeper into later Phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Ryan Coogler is an excellent addition to Marvel’s operation for BLACK PANTHER… Now let’s hope they let him do his thing to an extent. After all, that’s why they’re trying to get him in the first place.
BLACK PANTHER makes his solo presence felt in the Marvel Cinematic Universe on February 16, 2018.