The last few days have seen a number of sites convinced that Ava DuVernay, the acclaimed director behind Selma and Middle of Nowhere, had already been hired to direct Marvel's Black Panther. Those reports haven't actually been confirmed by anybody, and definitely not by Marvel honcho Kevin Feige who has no trouble revealing any of that stuff when the time is right. In a recent conversation with THR, Feige admits that DuVernay is indeed in consideration, but she's hardly alone.
Feige: "We've met with her for sure. We've met with a number of people for a number of movies. She has been one of them."
Rick Famuyiwa (Dope) has been mentioned as a possible contender, and there seems to be a real push to have an African-American direct Black Panther, just as there has been a push for a female director for Captain Marvel and DC's Wonder Woman. When asked about Marvel finally hiring a woman director, Feige replied...
Feige: "I think it will happen sooner rather than later, without giving too much away. But you look back sometimes, and it's just the nature of this industry, or the nature of the culture. But there's a big shift happening. What's exciting about Marvel, go back and look at the source material: It's been diverse in a cutting-edge way going back to the '60s, and I think we've represented that effortlessly and accurately in the movies we've made up to this point, but certainly with Black Panther and Captain Marvel doing it in a much more overt and purposeful way."
Black Panther doesn't arrive until 2018 so there's still time to get everything just right, and Feige will surely take his time making sure that's what happens. It's the same approach he took with casting Spider-Man, making the decision along with Sony to finally choose Tom Holland as the webslinger. But now that the hard part is done and the character is set to appear in Captain America: Civil War before heading to his solo film in 2017, how much input will Marvel have?
Feige: "Well, we're producing it for Sony. It's exciting, and we're treating it like we treat all of our films. To try to make the best version now of Spider-Man and a version of Spider-Man that inhabits this universe that we've created. We're in lockstep with [Sony Motion Picture Group chairman] Tom Rothman and [producer] Amy Pascal at every turn....Without getting into the contracts, it's definitely a Sony picture, produced by Marvel Studios."
He adds that the specifics of the deal allow for other Marvel characters to appear in the Spider-Man movie, so don't be surprised if there's some crossover going on. Perhaps that's when Spidey will be asked to join the Avengers?
Of a more immediate concern is Ant-Man, which features Paul Rudd as the unlikely hero. That film arrives next month and like Guardians of the Galaxy it's been somewhat oddly promoted since it doesn't naturally fit with the rest of the Marvel Universe. But Feige insists Ant-Man is a very important character in the overall scheme of things, which is why he's the one capping off Phase Two.
Feige: "Ant-Man is the movie that closes out Phase Two. But the truth is, there's so much in Ant-Man that all plays into Phase Three....Phase One ended with Avengers. So some people thought that Phase Two would end with an Avengers film. But the truth is, there is so much in Ant-Man: introducing a new hero, introducing a very important part of technology in the Marvel universe, the Pym particles. Ant-Man getting on the Avengers' radar in this film and even – this is the weirdest part, you shouldn't really talk about it because it won't be apparent for years – but the whole notion of the quantum realm and the whole notion of going to places that are so out there, they are almost mind-bendingly hard to fathom. It all plays into Phase Three. It became very clear that Ant-Man is the pinnacle and finale of Phase Two and Captain America: Civil War [May 6] is the start of Phase Three."
So there you have it. Ant-Man's important, Marvel and Sony are totally in sync creatively, and expect a decision on Black Panther's director soon.
