Ryan Coogler thinks a female-centric Black Panther spin-off would be amazing

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

It was fantastic to be able to explore an entirely new part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in BLACK PANTHER's Wakanda; it wasn't in another galaxy or a different realm, it was right here on Earth, just hidden from view. The world and its characters were so fantastic that audiences made BLACK PANTHER one of Marvel's highest-rated and highest-grossing movies, and although we got to reunite with Wakanda's citizens in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, I'm still hungry for more.

In addition to being one of the first comic-book movies led by a primarily black cast, BLACK PANTHER also contained quite a number of strong female characters, such as Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o), Okoye (Danai Gurira), Shuri (Letitia Wright), and Ramonda (Angela Bassett), and while speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, BLACK PANTHER writer/director Ryan Coogler was asked whether the women of the film were as as important as the men.

I think you could argue they are more important. There’s a whole section of the film where T’Challa is out of the movie and you’re just following the women.That’s one of my favorite parts of the movie when I watched it, and I didn’t expect that. That part of the movie you feel like you’re watching something fresh and new. That part of it was exciting. We have these actresses who could easily carry their own movie. Some of them have before. We were so fortunate. I would watch a movie with them!

That brings to mind a spin-off featuring the ladies of BLACK PANTHER, and Ryan Coogler seems thrilled with that idea. "Oh man," Coogler said. "That would be amazing if the opportunity came up. They did it in the comic-book version."

This isn't the first time that a female-centric Marvel flick has been proposed, as Tessa Thompson (THOR: RAGNAROK), along with several other Marvel actresses, approached Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige last year to give voice to their desire for a "movie with some female super heroes," to which Feige agreed with, and it seems that the project is still of interest over at Marvel.

I'm not Marvel so I can't make it happen, but I can tell you that Marvel is hugely collaborative, I think our even our Thor [Ragnarok] movie was basically the product of conversations they'd had with Chris [Hemsworth] and with Mark [Ruffalo] about what they wanted to do next. I think [Marvel boss] Kevin Feige is really excited by the idea, and if you look at what's happened already in Phase 4 with me and [Thompson's character] Valkyrie and our story, and then in Black Panther the women rule supreme. There's an interest – they're doing Captain Marvel, they're doing a Black Widow – there's an interest in having women at the forefront of this phase. I feel like it's hopeful, who knows.

Would a BLACK PANTHER spin-off focusing on characters like Nakia, Okoye, and Shuri be of interest to you?