*Apparently it wasn’t meant to be.
Unfortunately Ava DuVernay will NOT be at the helm of the upcoming Marvel film, “Black Panther.”
DuVernay told Essence writer Yolanda Sangweni that in the end after meeting with execs, she passed on the opportunity Marvel’s first superhero of color.
It seems they weren’t on the same page as far how the film would be conceptualized and decided not to move forward.
“I guess I’ll declare my independence from this rumor on 4th of July weekend and Essence weekend!” DuVernay said on her way to accept a McDonald’s 365 Award during the Essence Festival in New Orleans.
“I’m not signing on to direct Black Panther,” she added. “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.”
The” Black Panther” movie is currently in the works, with Chadwick Boseman (“42,” “Get on Up”) slated to play the role of T’Challa, the ruler of the fictional nation of Wakanda and the first black superhero to appear in a mainstream comic book franchise in the 60s.
“I loved meeting Chadwick and writers and all the Marvel execs,” said DuVernay. “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.”
On top of the “Black Panther” project nhot working out, the civil rights pilot she recently shot for CBS, tentatively titled “For Justice,” got sidelined. Maybe it was a little too real for the network.
“We turned it in the week of the Baltimore uprising, and we had an uprising in our piece when we filmed it,” she said. “I think they thought it was a little close to real life. But I had an absolute ball making it.”
You can read/learn MORE at Essence.
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