"Creed" director on the importance of having a black director for Marvel's "Black Panther."
Ryan Coogler, the director of the upcoming "Rocky" spinoff film "Creed" was previously rumored to be circling the Marvel film but has since confirmed that he's not involved with the project.
Screen Rant caught up with the "Fruitvale Station" director and asked if whether or not "Black Panther" needs a black director.
Yeah, I think it's important. Perspective is so important in art. It's an important thing. That's not to say that you can't work outside yourself," Coogler explained. "When I was coming up, I made movies about things that were close to me; I made movies about things that weren't close to me. But I definitely think that it helps when you are close to a subject. Like, I was an athlete for most of my life before I was a filmmaker."
"And that helped to inform me when writing this script, when directing. Having had those types of experiences helped me inform this process."
"A lot of times with great movies, you find some part of the filmmaker's life informing what they were doing," he added. "You look at Marty's great movies. It's like, man, you look at 'Mean Streets,' that was his life. That was what he was dealing with. That was what he was coming up with."
Before Coogler, "Selma" helmer Ava DuVernay was also rumored to be in negotiations with Marvel to be the director for the film "Black Panther." She reportedly passed up on the offer, refusing to sign a multi-picture contract with the studio.
Black Panther will be introduced in "Captain America: Civil War" before his solo film comes out; Marvel has given the standalone film an official Feb. 16, 2018 release.
Ryan Coogler's "Creed" releases on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015.
