Black Panther Will Have Marvel's First Female Director

With their slate expanding to three films a year from 2017 onwards, there's going to be an endless stream of casting and hiring news relating to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Interestingly, This latest development doesn't come from Dr Strange, Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 or Spider-Man, but a movie that won't arrive until after Avengers: Infinity War Part 1; the guys over at MCU Exchange has reported that Ava DuVernay has signed on to direct Black Panther. This is still technically rumour, but the Selma director has been linked to the film for the past few months, so it's hardly a surprise. I wasn't overly enamoured with Selma. The refined focus was a smart choice and David Oyelowo's a solid Martin Luther King, Jr., but DuVernay's direction was incredibly pedestrian, never elevating the movie above dramatising Wikipedia. Marvel have a strong track record of sourcing talent and taking them to a bigger platform (the Russo Brothers, Alan Taylor, James Gunn) so let's hope they can see something I don't (and aren't just succumbing to all that Oscar hype). Black Panther already has its lead actor cast - Chadwick Boseman will play T'Challa, King of Wakanda (the African land where vibranium can be sourced) and will make his MCU debut in next year's Captain America: Civil War. What the standalone film will involve isn't quite clear, but based on the director's filmography (she also directed Sundance hit Middle Of Nowhere) it'll no doubt flirt with social and/or racial issues. Black Panther is scheduled for release on July 6th, 2018. Enjoy the wait.