BREAKING

Earlier today I blew up my own twitter feed in the quest for new followers and boy did twitter nation respond!

Anyway, there has been much speculation as to the upcoming two Marvel films which have yet to be announced. It’s painfully obvious one of them is going to be the sequel to the Avengers.

But what about the other one?

Without further adieu, let’s get right to it…

Hell yes folks…

THE BLACK PANTHER is going to headline his own film!

How do I know? Let’s say I got it from FOUR different trusted sources.

Marvel is going BIG TIME after the urban film audience and I applaud them for that. Last year, it was reported that Marvel hired Mark Bailey to pen the script and I hear the script is fantastic.

The clues were always there. They showed Wakanda on the map in Iron Man 2 and Captain America’s shield is made from Vibranium which also hails from Wakanda. The Black Panther has a long development history which at one point had Wesley Snipes attached to star. Marvel got the rights back to the character in 2005.

The Black Panther has a HUGE urban following. Growing up in NYC, even though I’m more a Luke Cage fan, every Boricua I knew had crazy love for T’challa.

Who do I think got not only the physicality but the acting chops to play the character?

My money says Nate Parker from Red Tails.

From Wikipedia:


So there ya have it.

I'm too busy working out the first draft of the XXX parody to worry about the actual movie.

Come on, it almost writes itself - just visualize a...well, a.....a....

Okay.

Keep working on that. Good luck.

Ava DuVernay Passes on Directing 'Black Panther'

Ava DuVernay will not be directing Marvel's Black Panther. The director confirmed the news with Essence Magazine.

"I'm not signing on to direct Black Panther," said DuVernay during the Essence Festival. "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."

Chadwick Boseman is attached to the project to play T'Challa, the black superhero who rules the nation of Wakanda. Although DuVernay exclaimed she loved the characters, she didn't agree with Marvel's vision.

"I loved meeting Chadwick and the writers and all the Marvel execs," said DuVernay. "In the end, it comes down to story and we just didn't see eye to eye. Better for me to realize that now than cite creative differences later."

DuVernay also cleared the air about her CBS pilot tentatively titled For Justice, which was also didn't go through. DuVernay said the show didn't get picked up because she thinks "they thought it was a little close to real life."

"I guess I'll declare my independence from this rumor on 4th of July weekend and Essence weekend!" expressed DuVernay.

'Creed' Director Ryan Coogler in Talks to Direct Marvel's 'Black Panther'

Ryan Coogler, the director who is coming off of the surprisingly strong opening of Creed, is in negotiations to direct Black Panther, Marvel Studios' movie featuring the first black superhero.

The move puts the on-off dance the studio and the filmmaker have been minueting back in sympatico. Coogler had met with the studio earlier in the fall but talks cooled. Now, with the afterglow of Creed’s success, negotiations are back on.

Coogler's latest film, starring Michael B. Jordan as Apollo Creed's son Adonis, earned strong reviews and a big $29.6 million in its debut.

Chadwick Boseman is playing the hero, whose name is T’Challa, the head of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. The Black Panther — created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in the pages of Fantastic Four — was a long-serving member of the Avengers. The character, via Boseman, makes his first screen appearance in next year’s Captain America: Civil War.

Panther is scheduled to be released Nov. 3, 2017.

WME-repped Coogler first made a name for himself with 2013's Fruitvale Station, which starred Jordan as Oscar Grant, a Bay Area resident who, unarmed and handcuffed, was fatally shot by BART Police officer.

After showing much promise with Fruitvale and now pulling off Creed, a Rocky movie that faced low expectations, he has become one of Hollywood's hottest young directors.

Now it looks like he's taking a bigger step with a studio superhero film.

Marvel's 'Black Panther' Will Set Up 'Avengers: Infinity War,' Says Kevin Feige

Its release remains more than two years away, but fans of Marvel's Cinematic Universe already have reason to get excited about the studio's Black Panther movie, which will apparently prove pivotal for the larger mythology of the Avengers.

"This one is important," Feige told Empire Magazine in its 2016 preview issue. "Not only do you get an unbelievable lead character, but you also get all of [fictional African nation] Wakanda which is a whole new setting and culture to explore."

While the plot of Black Panther remains under wraps, Feige said that the movie will be "a big geopolitical action adventure that focuses on the family and royal struggle of T'Challa in Wakanda, and what it means to be a king." T'Challa, played by Chadwick Boseman, is the Black Panther's real name, with the "Black Panther" identity being a hereditary one passed from Wakandan ruler to Wakandan ruler.

More importantly for Marvel Cinematic Universe fans, however, is Feige's tease that "T'Challa's story is very important to us as it links to the next Avengers films, which is why we brought it forward."

Originally scheduled for November 2017, the movie has been rescheduled twice: initially to July 6, 2018, and then to Feb. 16, 2018. Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 is scheduled to be released May 4, 2018.

How Black Panther will lead into Avengers is likely to remain a mystery until 2018, but it should be noted that a number of Infinity Stones remain undiscovered ahead of the announced "Infinity War." Could Black Panther's exploration of Wakanda include the discovery of one of the remaining stones? As all the best superhero stories would put it, to be continued ...

Lupita Nyong'o in Talks to Star in 'Black Panther'

Lupita Nyong'o, who won an Oscar for her performance in 12 Years a Slave, is in negotiations to star opposite Chadwick Boseman in Marvel Studios’ Black Panther.

Ryan Coogler, who wrote and directed Creed, is helming the comic book movie as well as writing the script.

Boseman and Black Panther were introduced in Captain America: Civil War, which crossed the $700 million worldwide mark in under a week and a half.

The character, whose name is T’Challa, is the warrior king of Wakanda, Marvel’s fictional African nation that is rich in an unbreakable alloy called vibranium.

N’yongo’s character has not been revealed although she will be the Panther’s love interest.

Panther has a February 2, 2018 release date with production aiming to start in early 2017.

N’yongo last appeared as the alien Maz Kanata in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and lent her voice for the wolf Raksha in The Jungle Book. She is also attached to star in DreamWorks’ Intelligent Life, a sci-fi drama currently seeking a director.

She is repped by CAA, D2 Management, and Del Shaw.