Rumor: Creed Filmmaker Ryan Coogler In Contention For Black Panther

Earlier this month, Marvel issued new release dates for three mystery movies, while pushing their highly-anticipated Black Panther up five months, from July 6, 2018 to February 16, 2018.

“Selma” helmer Ava DuVernay was once attached to direct, but she passed on the project due to creative differences. Now, Heroic Hollywood is reporting that studio executives have honed in on another young director they want to lead the project: Ryan Coogler.

Following DuVernay’s ouster, a number of prominent filmmakers have been rumored for the gig, including Straight Outta Compton’s F. Gary Gray, who instead headed over to Furious 8.

Coogler is set to return to the director’s chair next year with his second feature Creed, which will see him team up with Sylvester Stallone and reunite with Michael B. Jordan.

Again, though, Coogler’s potential involvement is just a rumor. So far, it seems like Joe Robert Cole (Amber Lake) has been set as the screenwriter, so Marvel may be at that point where they’re finally solidifying their crew and the movie’s production timeline. If Marvel isn’t quite sure how the character might be received as part of its Cinematic Universe, a sort of backdoor pilot on one of the other Netflix TV series could be a smart strategy.

As we said at the top of this post, take all of these details with many large heaping tablespoons of salt. But let’s indulge in speculation for a moment.