Director Ava DuVernay Rumored for Marvel’s Black Panther & Captain Marvel, Which Are We Supposed to Root For?

And before you even say it—no, she can’t direct both. Black Panther has a release date of July 6, 2018 and Captain Marvel is set for November 2, 2018.

Last night, The Wrap first reported Selma director Ava DuVernay was being “courted” by Marvel for either film. Entertainment Weekly and other sources have also received the same information from “sources close to the projects,” so I think we can take this rumor a bit more seriously than than the really sketchy ones. The Wrap also notes:

Marvel’s courtship surfaces on the same day that the American Civil Liberties Union asked state and federal agencies to investigate Hollywood’s hiring practices at major studios, networks and talent agencies. The ACLU has alleged rampant and intentional gender discrimination in recruiting and hiring female directors.

As well as:

DuVernay actually has experience with comic book movies… sort of. Back in her publicist days, she did “promotional services” for Sam Raimi‘s “Spider-Man 2,” which inexplicably remains her top credit on IMDb Pro despite the fact that “Selma,” which she directed, was Oscar-nominated for Best Picture and won a slew of other awards from critics and guilds.

Ahh, Hollywood.

But back to the exciting news. On one hand you’d have an amazingly talented female director helming a female superhero film. Captain Marvel, you may also remember, officially has two women on board to write—Nicole Perlman and Meg LaFauve. A creative team made up of all women for a huge Hollywood blockbuster? Yes, please!

On the other hand, an African-American woman directing the story of the first black superhero in comics? Hnnnng. It would calm the fears of many who are worried how Black Panther will be brought to life while also making great strides for POC in Hollywood. You may remember DuVernay was one of the directors on our wish list previously for the film.

Marvel, can we move dates around so she can do both? I mean, you can push that silly Spider-Man movie back.

All that aside, DuVernay, while never having directed an action film, did previously express interest in directing a superhero film so it’s cool Marvel was actually listening. Chadwick Boseman is set to star in Black Panther while Marvel has yet to reveal who will headline Captain Marvel (we have 19 suggestions for them). What do you think, folks?

(image via taniavolobueva / Shutterstock.com)

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Jill Pantozzi

Jill Pantozzi is a pop-culture journalist and host who writes about all things nerdy and beyond! She’s Editor in Chief of the geek girl culture site The Mary Sue (Abrams Media Network), and hosts her own blog “Has Boobs, Reads Comics” (TheNerdyBird.com). She co-hosts the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast along with superhero historian Alan Kistler, contributed to a book of essays titled “Chicks Read Comics,” (Mad Norwegian Press) and had her first comic book story in the IDW anthology, “Womanthology.” In 2012, she was featured on National Geographic’s "Comic Store Heroes," a documentary on the lives of comic book fans and the following year she was one of many Batman fans profiled in the documentary, "Legends of the Knight."

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