Director Ryan Coogler Bigs Up The Dual Nature Of Black Panther

Even after the fallout from Captain America: Civil War, many would still consider Steve Rogers to be the moral anchor of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, even if his immediate future donning the stars and stripes is largely up for question – then again, we fully expect Joe and Anthony Russo to have Chris Evans’ star-spangled hero back in business in time for Thanos and Avengers: Infinity War.

Other members of the Avengers are more difficult to pin down, morally speaking. But when it comes to Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther, Ryan Coogler believes that, because of his duty as a soldier, coupled with his ties to politics, the character of T’Challa exists in the grey area  between war and, essentially, pacifism. First spotted by ComicBook.com, Coogler touched base on Boseman’s conflicted lead during a featurette included in the recent Digital HD release of Doctor Strange, which came packing a hoard of Marvel-related extras including early concept art of Wakanda and its surrounding terrain (see above). And so, when quizzed about Phase Three of the MCU, Coogler noted:

“Panther exists in a grey area. In addition to being a soldier, he has a more important job as a politician. He’s constantly making these choices in the fog of politics and the fog of war.”

Though Marvel has dealt with royalty before thanks to the Thor series, head honcho Kevin Feige went on to discuss how Black Panther takes those universal themes of power, nobility and honor and situates them on planet Earth.

“We deal with royalty, we deal with royal families, but unlike our other films, it’s right here on Earth. We get to explore different cultures and different aspects of our world. Black Panther is a hugely important Marvel character, hugely important in the history of comics. We put together a cast and crew among the best that we’ve ever assembled, led by director Ryan Coogler.”

Black Panther will claw its way into theaters on February 16th, 2018. Other Marvel films gestating under the Phase Three umbrella include Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5th), Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7th), Thor: Ragnarok (November 3rd) and Avengers: Infinity War (May 4th, 2018).