As Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes to a close with Ant-Man, Marvel Studios is looking to the future by continuing to develop their future projects. With Captain America: Civil War currently shooting, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 set to shoot later next year, films like Thor: Ragnarok, Captain Marvel, and Black Panther are going to be on the lookout for possible directors. Now Ava DuVernay, the director of the Academy Award nominated Selma, who was rumored to direct Black Panther, is now taking herself out of the running.
In an interview with Essence (via Variety), DuVernay explains why she isn’t directing Black Panther,
“I’m not signing on to direct Black Panther,” she told the magazine. “I think I’ll just say we had different ideas about what the story would be. Marvel has a certain way of doing things and I think they’re fantastic and a lot of people love what they do. I loved that they reached out to me.”
The director says she did meet with Marvel executives, but decided that it wasn’t a good fit,
“I loved meeting Chadwick (Boseman) and writers and all the Marvel execs,” DuVernay said. “In the end, it comes down to story and perspective. And we just didn’t see eye to eye. Better for me to realize that now than cite creative differences later.”
Despite that, she has no hard feelings against the project or Marvel Studios, and wishes the best for whomever directs the film,
“I love the character of Black Panther, the nation of Wakanda, and all that that could be visually. I wish them well and will be first in line to see it.”
While it is disappointing to see that DuVernay won’t be directing Black Panther or what sounds like any other Marvel film in the future, it sounds like she did what was best for her. We have seen that some directors have had less than memorable experiences working with the studio, many of them citing creative differences. Now that isn’t something against the studio, there are larger pieces at play considering the Marvel Cinematic Universe has to have solo films that connect to the larger universe.
But it should be interesting to see what she does next. She is confirmed to helm the untitled romance film set against Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
So far Chadwick Boseman is the only confirmed actor to star in Black Panther. The character will make his directorial debut in Captain America: Civil War, which opens in theaters on May 6, 2016. The Black Panther solo film will open in theaters on November 3, 2017.
[Source: Essence via Variety]
No Comments »
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
Leave a comment