Kevin Feige Teases 'Black Panther' Cast - Says 'Creed' Director Ryan Coogler May be Attached
The mastermind behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kevin Feige, has spoken about one of the most awaited films in the studio, Black Panther, revealing how the cast will be comprised and that Ryan Coogler, who recently directed the Rocky sequel Creed, might direct the film.
In the same Empire Magazine interview where he revealed that the Black Panther story will lead directly to the two Avengers: Infinity Wars films, Feige also spoke a little further about the movie revolving around T'Challa, the king of Wakanda.
"Not only do you get an unbelievable lead character, but you also get all of Wakanda which is a whole new setting and culture to explore," Feige told the publication in the interview, Polygon reports, also explaining that the ethnicity of the cast would have a "majority black cast," which makes sense considering the main character is the king of a fictional country in Africa.
Last year's Avengers: Age of Ultron saw the very first official mention of Wakanda in the MCU, as it was revealed that it's the only place on Earth where vibranium, the rare metal of Captain America's shield and The Vision's body, is found. When Iron Man 2 was released, the country was also teased, as there was a map shown, years before it was announced that Marvel was adapting the character to the big screen.
As far as the film's director is concerned, there had been numerous rumors about who could be taking the chair in the movie. Various names have been thrown around in the past months, including Selma director Ava DuVernay, as it has become clear that Marvel was looking to hire a black director for the film, which revolves around arguably the most iconic black superhero in comic book history.
Marvel has already introduced a few black superheroes to the MCU, including War Machine (played by Don Cheadle since Iron Man 2), Falcon (played by Anthony Mackie and introduced in Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and, most recently, Luke Cage (Mike Colter, introduced in Netflix's A.K.A. Jessica Jones).
Black Panther will first appear on the MCU on this year's Captain America: Civil War, then, as The Verge reports, getting his own stand-alone film in 2018.