Black Panther Director Ryan Coogler Addresses Avengers: Secret Wars Speculation (Exclusive)

Over the past few weeks, there’s been growing speculation that Ryan Coogler could end up finding himself at the helmer of Avengers: Secret Wars, arguably the most anticipated film in the history of the franchise. Virtually nothing is known of the feature other than the fact it’s being written by Michael Waldron, the writer behind both Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Loki Season One. ComicBook.com’s Aaron Perine recently caught up with Coogler to ask whether or not he’ll direct the team-up.

“What streets, bro? I know nothing about that, man,” Coogler says. “I’m trying to finish this one.”

Coogler and his production company Proximity Media recently inked a first-look deal with Disney. As a part of that deal, it was reported the filmmaker will produce other MCU projects outside the Black Panther franchise, including Dominque Thorne’s upcoming Ironheart series.

“It’s an honor to be partnering with The Walt Disney Company. Working with them on Black Panther was a dream come true,” Coogler and his team said in a press release announcing the deal in 2021. “As avid consumers of television, we couldn’t be happier to be launching our television business with Bob Iger, Dana Walden and all the amazing studios under the Disney umbrella. We look forward to learning, growing, and building a relationship with audiences all over the world through the Disney platforms.”

He added, “We are especially excited that we will be taking our first leap with Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and their partners at Marvel Studios where we will be working closely with them on select MCU shows for Disney+. We’re already in the mix on some projects that we can’t wait to share.”

In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba), fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.  It has yet to be seen where the Midnight Angels tie into the story.

Introducing Tenoch Huerta as Namor, king of a hidden undersea nation, the film also stars Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena and Alex Livanalli. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens in theaters on November 11.