This is one of the coolest bits of director-casting we’ve heard in quite awhile. While rumors were circling around since May that Selma director Ava DuVernay might be in the running to direct Marvel’s Black Panther, it is now official, according to MCU Exchange. The project is still in very early stages, with a release date set for 2018, but tapping DuVernay this early would likely mean they want her involvement in Captain America: Civil War to some extent.
We hasten to add, there has been no official word from either Marvel or DuVernay’s camp on this issue.
DuVernay has only directed three feature films to date — 2010’s Middle of Nowhere, 2012’s I Will Follow, and 2014’s Selma, which earned many accolades including a Golden Globe nomination for DuVernay as Best Director, making her the first African-American woman to receive such a nod. While none of those films would necessarily immediately translate to comic book action, there are parts of Selma, especially the tragic march across Pettus Bridge during the 1965 Alabama Voting Rights marches, that are as tense and brutal as anything in any war movie.
If this story ends up being true, this will be the latest in Marvel’s proven track record of picking the best, but not always the most obvious choices to direct its films. Would anyone have thought Jon Favreau would have made a brilliant Iron Man movie? Was Kenneth Branagh a no-brainer for Thor? And who would have pegged TV comedy directors Joe and Anthony Russo to be the ones to make Marvel’s most intensely-actioned movie yet with Captain America: The Winter Soldier?
I think DuVernay is exactly the kind of filmmaker the Marvel Cinematic Universe needs to continue to shake things up as they add new titles to their expanding roster. She’ll bring a fresh eye and perspective to a genre that’s already so prevalent, not to mention a franchise that will be 18 films deep by the time Black Panther comes out.
What do you think of this choice for director? Does the MCU need new blood? Let us know in the comments below!
HT: Complex, MCU Exchange
IMAGE: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
