So we can finally put this rumor/story to bed, “Selma” director Ava DuVernay told Essence magazine today that she’s passed on Marvel’s “Black Panther” movie. “I guess I’ll declare my independence from this rumor on 4th of July weekend and Essence weekend!” she said. “I’m not signing on to direct Black Panther.”
Perhaps to no surprise, DuVernay said her ideas of what a Black Panther movie would be and what a Marvel version would be were vastly different. “I think I’ll just say we had different ideas about what the story would be. Marvel has a certain way of doing things and I think they’re fantastic and a lot of people love what they do. I loved that they reached out to me.”
“I loved meeting Chadwick [Boseman] and writers and all the Marvel execs,” she continues. “In the end, it comes down to story and perspective. And we just didn’t see eye to eye. Better for me to realize that now than cite creative differences later.”
Not a huge surprise for anyone that knows DuVernay’s work well. She was always a wrong fit for the Marvel machine and it really just getting her career started with soulful, integrity-filled dramas that put character and not spectacle first. Like Joaquin Phoenix passing on “Dr. Strange” after a few conversations, we’re not shocked in the least.
ad and glad. At least, she\’s not selling out. She has the ability and talent to create her own superhero.
Exactly what in her body of work indicates this to be true?
Sad and glad. At least, she\’s not selling out. She has the ability and talent to create her own superhero.
Nice Ava!….glad to read you turned this down for the sake of decent, character driven storytelling, thankyou for defending and being such a strong voice for grat filmmaking.
@Hildebrand – Despite her gross mischaracterization of LBJ in Selma, most open-minded people agree it was one of the most nuanced, well directed biopics that\’s come out in a while. If you\’re going to just come out and say "du Varnay is a bad director", you\’re really going hard against conventional wisdom, and need to offer some strong arguments. If you\’ve actually seen Selma, you\’d know that the scene on the bridge was deftly handled, and can definitely be considered an action scene. Regardless of her politics (which I disagree with), du Varnay has proven her ability as a director in evoking strong emotions through physically complicated and exciting scenes.
No one at Marvel really *wanted* her to direct this. She\’s not a good director, and has shown zero aptitude for action or FX. This was a pure affirmative action hire, in the absolutely worst incarnation. SJW BS is going to ruin Hollywood.
@CHRIS – I feel you have to make that disclaimer whenever you make a negative comment about an artist who is outspoken as a minority or feminist. I agree with everything else you said wholeheartedly.
"soulful, integrity-filled dramas?" So the director of yet another stilted, "aren\’t we virutous" Hollywood biopic is too good for Hollywood? And making a film about virtuous people (or at least, one esteemed man) makes the director virtuous? Here we go again with the Holocaust hero thing. No, Steven Spielberg wasn\’t a hero of the Warsaw uprising and Ava DuVernay isn\’t a civil rights activist.
Quit hating "Directher". No one said that this was racist or misogynistic. I find Marvel movies quite bland tbh. Only Joss Whedon has made a mark on one of them. I never remember anything that happens in any of them. There are no consequences in that world. No strong artistic director has really gotten along with Marvel besides Whedon (and his control was limited of course)
What in the hell is Essence weekend? This isn\’t the least bit misogynist or racist, but she\’s annoying and she\’s become instantly overrated as a filmmaker.
"She just couldn\’t "hack" it." Idiotic thing to say. She turned it down. Clearly she\’s indicating what everyone already knows after Edgar Wright tried to work with Marvel (and is pretty F*ing evident anyhow.
The ironic part is a lot of people who work for Marvel are hacks. Comedian directors who are walked through the process of vfx and big-budget with lots of people holding their hand.
Ava\’s going to have a career that will outlive the blip of doing a marvel film
This makes me happy.
She just couldn\’t "hack" it.
Haha Dave, surely you jest?
She wanted to portray Tony Stark and Captain America with competing racist agendas to take down Black Panther.