'Black Panther' still doesn't have a director after Ana DuVernay declined Marvel's offer to helm their new film. She exposed creative differences with the studio as her reason for backing out. Chadwick Boseman's superhero will make his first appearance in the 'Captain America' sequel.
In an article by Slash Film, DuVernay revealed that the reason why she turned down Marvel's offer to direct their newest addition to the live-action superhero film franchise was because she felt she wouldn't be getting the creative control she needed during the filmmaking process.
Although she wanted to take the opportunity of helming a story about a colored superhero that could potentially have mainstream worldwide reach, she felt pressure over the overbearing way Marvel took first-hand control of their films.
She said, "What my name is on means something to me - (my bodies of work) are my children. This is my art. This is what will live on after I'm gone. So it's important to me that they be true to who I was in this moment. And if there's too much compromise, it really wasn't going to be an Ava DuVernay film."
DuVernay is the critically acclaimed director of the Oscar-nominated historical drama 'Selma'. She is also well-known for her efforts of promoting African-American film festivals and independent films. As of the present, Marvel has not officially announced any replacement for the 43-year old filmmaker.
According to Superhero Hype, Boseman's heroic Wakanda ruler is all set for his very own standalone movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). First created in 1966 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the fictional superhero will make his first cinematic appearance on the upcoming 'Captain America: Civil War' alongside Chris Evans' Captain America and Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man.
In the comic books, Black Panther (otherwise known as T'Challa) is the chieftain of the technologically advanced African kingdom Wakanda - specifically the Wakandan Panther Clan. He is famed as the earliest African-American superhero in Marvel's mainstream American comic books after appearing in the first volume of the 'Fantastic Four' series.
He has superhuman abilities that include enhanced senses, increased speed and stamina as well as extraordinary reflexes. Black Panther is also a renowned hunter, tactician and strategist with mastery of unarmed combat that combines acrobatics and African martial arts.
Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige revealed that he already had someone in mind to play the newest superhero in the MCU long before an official casting-call was announced, according to Vulture.
He said, "We were working on the Civil War draft, and we realized we wanted to do things a little different than the comics and bring in a third party... We wanted someone who could look at this argument between Tony and Steve with fresh eyes, who wasn't siding with either of them. We started saying, 'What about someone like Black Panther?'" He added that all he did was call Boseman and the rest was history.
'Black Panther' is an upcoming film in the MCU and will be its 19th installment. It will also be the seventh in Phase Three to be released on July 6, 2018. No other cast members have been confirmed apart from Boseman who will carry the titular role.
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