The BLACK PANTHER Director Shortlist is Narrowed Down (A Bit)


 

Black-Panther-Movie

Black Panther isn’t out for over three years, but it’s a film which we’ve heard a lot about in regards to its director. The most prominent name which kept bobbing up is that of Ava DuVernay, the biggest African-American female director in Hollywood right now. That’s down to directing Selma, the biopic of Martin Luther King which was a massive hit last awards season. I still haven’t seen the movie but everybody says it’s pretty great, so I guess she’s a pretty great director.

She’s been circling the movie for a few months (and Kevin Feige even confirmed that she is in contention recently), however in an interview with Essence DuVernay has revealed that she’s unfortunately passed on the movie. *sadface*

“I guess I’ll declare my independence from this rumor on 4th of July weekend and Essence weekend! I’m not signing on to direct Black Panther. I think I’ll just say we had different ideas about what the story would be. Marvel has a certain way of doing things and I think they’re fantastic and a lot of people love what they do. I loved that they reached out to me.”

It’s a big shame. I mean, we’ll probably never really know what DuVernay’s ideas for the biggest black superhero were, which means we’ll also never know whether they were any good. They could be the greatest f&#king thing since Tony Stark decided to build a low-titanium-alloy suit, but they also could have been terrible. Regardless, the search continues.

Typically a director is chosen for a blockbuster movie two years before release, which means that Marvel still have an entire YEAR to find someone. It will probably also be a person of colour; while it’s always important to go with the best choice regardless of race or gender or such things, there would be a lot of backlash if it was another white person and I think a black director would be much better at grasping the issues which the movie will likely raise.

Besides, there’s still a lot to look forward to. Ant-Man, Agents of SHIELD Season 3, Jessica Jones, Agent Carter Season 2, Civil War, Daredevil Season 2, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man, Thor: Ragnarok

Jesus.

Head back over to Essence (linked somewhere else in this article) to read some more of Ava DuVernay’s comments. Black Panther whizzes from Wakanda to your local movie theater July 6th, 2018.