Marvel Eyes F. Gary Gray For ‘Black Panther’
Amid the flurry of excitement over the possibility ofF. Gary GraydirectingFurious 8, a potentially major update on a different gazillion-dollar franchise almost slipped by unnoticed. Gray is also said to be in the running to helmBlack Panther, Marvel’s first solo superhero film starring a non-white lead. Read about theBlack PantherF Gary Gray report after the jump.
Varietyslipped theBlack PantherF Gary Gray news into a story aboutFurious 8. The trade says only that Gray is “a contender” for theBlack Pantherdirecting gig. It’s not clear whether discussions have already begun, or whether there are still other filmmakers in the mix. Previously, we heard Marvel had its eye onSelma’sAva DuVernayfor the job, butshe turned it downbecause “it really wasn’t going to be an Ava DuVernay film.”
If Marvel does want Gray forBlack Panther, he could have a tough choice to make.Furious 8is scheduled to open in spring 2017 andBlack Pantherin summer 2018, so post-production on one may overlap with pre-production on the other. It’s not necessarily impossible for Gray to do both, but it means he’ll be working basically nonstop for the next three years.
This isn’t Gray’s first brush with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A few years back he was one of the directors considered for what turned out to beCaptain America: The Winter Soldier, butdropped outto makeStraight Outta Comptoninstead. His gamble seems to have worked out just fine.Straight Outta Comptonwas a huge, critically acclaimed hit, and now Gray’s suddenly on everyone’s wishlist. Including Marvel’s, again.
Besides the N.W.A. biopicStraight Outta Compton, Gray’s film credits includeLaw Abiding Citizen,Be Cool,The Italian Job,A Man Apart(which starredFurious 8’s Vin Diesel),The Negotiator,Set It Off, andFriday(which starred actual N.W.A. member Ice Cube).
Black PantherstarsChadwick Bosemanas Wakandan leader T’Challa, a.k.a. Black Panther, and almost certainlyAndy Serkisas his nemesis Ulysses Klaue. Serkis made his MCU debut inAvengers: Age of Ultronthis summer, while Boseman’s Black Panther will make his first appearance in next summer’sCaptain America: Civil War. The soloBlack Panthermovie opensJuly 6, 2018.
