Rumour: Ryan Coogler wanted for Marvel’s Black Panther

Black Panther is one of the new Marvel franchises that is on the horizon… however, no director for the movie has yet been announced. The were originally in talks with Ava DuVernay (Selma) who eventually passed.

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. Now, Heroic Hollywood is reporting that studio executives have honed in on another young director they want to lead the project: Ryan Coogler.

While Coogler is believed to be in talks for the director job on Black Panther, there is no word on how far along the talks have gone. Coogler had apparently made it known that he was willing to work on big commercial fare, so there appears to be interest on his side as well.

Black Panther will be Marvel’s first film featuring a black superhero as the title character.

Black Panther is set for release on February 16th 2018, and will see Chadwick Boseman reprising his role from next year’s Captain America: Civil War. Earlier this month, Joe Robert Cole (“American Crime Story”) was reportedly in negotiations to write the screenplay.