Rick Famuyima Throws Shade at 'Justice League' Over 'Black Panther' Box Office

The news that Black Panther's 4-day opening already eclipsed the total box office run of Justice League in domestic markets has ignited yet another fan war, but a director with personal stakes in the business used the opportunity to throw some shade.

Rick Famuyiwa, who stepped down from directing the Flashpoint movie, took to social media with some tea to commemorate the occasion, expressing some apparent frustration with the executives of DC Films. Take a look below:

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A post shared by Rick Famuyiwa (@rickfamuyiwa) on Feb 19, 2018 at 4:02pm PST

For those unaware, the frog and teacup emojis are referencing the ubiquitous meme of Kermit the Frog sipping tea, usually with the caption "…but that's none of my business." It is meant to call out mistakes as if the poster saw it coming and warned about it, only to be ignored, and now they're just sitting back and sipping some tea. Wow, we actually explained a meme!

Famuyiwa is friends with the people behind Black Panther and has expressed enthusiasm about the film before. He also frequently collaborates with Rachel Morrison, the Academy Award-winning cinematographer who shot Black Panther. They previously worked together on the HBO film Confirmation, as well as Famuyiwa's hood classic Dope.

While the director issued a statement that expressed gratitude toward Warner Bros. for despite parting ways on Flashpoint over creative differences, Famuyiwa's statement is indicative of the rumors that have plagued the studios DC Films projects since Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hit theaters.

That film received substantial reshoots, and the next release Suicide Squad also suffered from studio meddling as different versions of the film were edited at the same time. Justice League's woes have been well documented over the last year, including the recent rumor that Zack Snyder was quietly fired in the middle of the production. Joss Whedon didn't get a director's credit, but he was revealed to be providing substantial rewrites and handled the additional photography after Snyder's departure.

The only film that didn't receive a ton of "input" from Warner Bros. executives was Wonder Woman, which was largely self contained and allowed to stand on its own in the shared DC Comics universe. That film outgrossed Justice League as well, and was praised by fans and critics alike in comparison.

Famuyiwa might seem bitter about not directing The Flash movie, but it more looks like that he's pointing out a problem that has seemingly plagued many DC Films releases: let the directors do their thing, and a better movie will be released in theaters.

Black Panther is now playing in theaters.