AVA DUVERNAY On Why She Turned Down Marvel’s BLACK PANTHER

Ava DuVernay’s stunning work on Selma put her as one of the frontrunners to direct Black Panther. The acclaimed filmmaker was snubbed for a number of awards, but Selma is still talked about as an important piece of cinema. Yes, we will always be imagining what her Black Panther movie would be like, but we’re still excited about what might be. As indicated by her, she was really tempted to board the project, considering the appeal Marvel movies have to the mass. “These films go everywhere from Shanghai to Uganda”.

And while she was intrigued by the cultural impact the film would have, especially with a black superhero at the helm, she also went on to explain that “everyone is interested in different things”. Marvel has a certain way of doing things and I think they’re fantastic and a lot of people love what they do.

Scandal yes. Black Panther no.

So while we’d have liked to see Ava DuVernay’s take on Black Panther, she was smart to realize that Marvel would be a controlling influence on the entire process.

This past weekend, director Ava DuVernay told a crowd of bloggers at the BlogHer conference closing keynote that her lightbulb moment transitioning from a career in publicity to filmmaking happened when she learned to follow the white guys.

In her interview with The Hollywood Reporter, DuVernay said that there was an extent of gladness and eagerness, as she supposed that she can apply her creative touch on the Wakandan superhero in a thrilling and dynamic approach, which she described as “revolutionary”.

“What my name is on means something to me – these are my children”. Now as much as I enjoyed Ant-Man, the whole Darren Cross revealing that he was selling his Yellow Jacket specs to Hydra seemed absolutely unnecessary, and the villains are constantly underdeveloped, with the exception of a few.

If there’s one complaint that even Marvel fans have about the cinematic universe it’s that their formula is starting to get a little tiresome, especially with regards to underdeveloped villains. I loved that they reached out to me.

Maybe it’s time for Marvel to loosen the reins a little bit to allow some filmmakers to play more freely in their universe. “Too often, we live within their games, so why would you not study what works?”