Avengers: Infinity War directing duo Anthony and Joe Russo have big praise for Black Panther co-writer and director Ryan Coogler.
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“He’s amazing,” Joe Russo told Sway in the Morning.
Added Anthony Russo, “We love him.”
The 31-year-old filmmaker is “one of the nicest, greatest human beings you’ll meet and an incredibly talented director,” Joe said. “I mean, just think about his age and what he’s accomplished at his age, it’s staggering. And that movie is perhaps the most groundbreaking film that we’ve seen in movies in decades.”
Coogler was awarded the Director of the Year Award at CinemaCon in Las Vegas last month after his Marvel blockbuster — his first foray into the superhero genre and first entry in the shared Marvel Cinematic Universe — dominated the box office and grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide.
Mitch Neuhauser, Managing Director of CinemaCon, hailed Coogler as “one of the most dynamic, talented and successful directors of our time,” calling Black Panther “a film that has crossed all cultures and ethnicities and has resonated beyond anyone’s wildest imagination from a societal standpoint.”
Disney-owned Marvel Studios has already officially commissioned a Black Panther 2, but Coogler has yet to announce a return to the director’s chair. The Russo brothers may have spilled the beans during an Infinity War press tour late last month, though Marvel Studios has yet to officially declare a director for the sequel — but should he want it, the gig is his.
Asked if he’d like to see Coogler take the helm of BP2, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige said “I hope so,” adding he “absolutely” wants Coogler on the sequel.
Producer Nate Moore said Marvel pursued the then-rising talent because of his work on Rocky sequel-slash-spinoff Creed, which starred future Black Panther villain Michael B. Jordan as the striving-for-greatness son of Apollo Creed.
“We hunted him down and we made him say yes, but it wasn’t hard,” Moore told ComicBook.com.
“I think, to Ryan’s credit, he obviously knew the character and wanted to do the movie, but he only wanted to do the movie if he felt like it was going to be something that would have integrity. One that, at the end of the day, he could feel good about as a filmmaker. That’s what we wanted as well.”
Black Panther amassed more than $1.3 billion globally since its February 16 release, becoming the third-biggest release of all time domestically and the number one superhero movie of all time after its $202 million debut — the biggest February debut of all time. It now stands as the ninth highest-grossing movie worldwide.
Black Panther is available to own digitally on May 8 before hitting store shelves on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD May 15.
