Marvel Studios(NEW YORK) — After the immense success of Marvel’s Black Panther, the film’s director, Ryan Coogler, is weighing in on the future of the history-making franchise.
During a conversation with film critic Elvis Mitchell at Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, attended by Variety, Coogler revealed he’d be on board to do a spinoff of Black Panther — that centers on the women of Wakanda.
“Oh man. That would be amazing if the opportunity came up,” Coogler said. “They did it in the comic-book version.”
Coogler is referring to Marvel’s 2016 Black Panther comic book relaunch from Ta-Nehisi Coates, which focuses on the Dora Milaje, Wakanda’s royal guard of elite female fighters. Later that year, Marvel released the World of Wakanda series which followed Ayo and Aneka, two women who fell in love while training to become part of the Dora Milaje. Then in March 2018, Marvel announced Amazing Spider-Man: Wakanda Forever, where the Dora team up with Spider-Man.
Coogler says the women of Wakanda are an essential part of Black Panther‘s narrative.
“There’s a whole section of the film where T’Challa is out of the movie and you’re just following the women,” Coogler explains. “That’s one of my favorite parts of the movie when I watched it, and I didn’t expect that. That part of the movie you feel like you’re watching something fresh and new. That part of it was exciting.”
“We have these actresses who could easily carry their own movie,” he added, mentioning Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, and Letitia Wright, Black Panther‘s female leads. “Some of them have before. We were so fortunate. I would watch a movie with them!”
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.