It's funny how quickly things turn, especially when it comes to fanboys and their superhero movies. A few days ago Marvel was rumored to be courting Ava DuVernay, director of the Oscar-nominated Selma, to be at the helm for either Black Panther or Captain Marvel. The early reaction to it was positively strong for a number of reasons, not the least of which is having one of the most talented female directors involved in the building of the MCU. But lately the fan reaction has turned negative with some complaining that Marvel is merely pandering by courting an African-American female director. Yeah, whatever. But if those folks are unhappy, maybe they'll like hearing about another candidate that has emerged.
According to Umberto Gonzalez, Rick Famuyiwa, director of the Sundance award-winning comedy Dope, is also on Marvel's list to direct Black Panther. Given that DuVernay is said to be leaning more towards directing that film, it could mean she has some new competition. Or, she could decide to direct Captain Marvel instead. And I think this is a pretty good time to remind people that there has been one prominent African-American Marvel hero named Captain Marvel, and she even led the Avengers for awhile. While Kevin Feige has said it will be the Carol Danvers version, I'd be more interested in seeing Monica Rambeau on the big screen. Can we change that, please?
Going back to Black Panther, though, this would be a big move for Famuyiwa. He's red hot right now after his comedy Dope took a lot of people by surprise at Sundance. His first breakout film was 1999's The Wood, followed by the acclaimed hip-hop romance, Brown Sugar, and then the multi award-winner Talk to Me, which starred The Avengers: Age of Ultron's Don Cheadle.
We still know very little about Marvel's plans for Black Panther except that it will star Chadwick Boseman and arrive on July 6th 2018. The character will first appear in Captain America: Civil War, and will probably have his own agenda when a feud erupts that tears the Avengers apart.
