Despite rumors that she would officially be signing on to direct Marvel's “Black Panther,” Ava DuVernay (“Selma”) has revealed to Essence Magazine that she will not be helming the superhero adaptation:
“I guess I'll declare my independence from this rumor on 4th of July weekend and Essence weekend!” DuVernay told the magazine during the Essence Festival in New Orleans.
“I'm not signing on to direct Black Panther,” she added. “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 (“Get on Up”) is attached to play the title character, a.k.a. T”Challa, in the upcoming film.
“I loved meeting Chadwick and writers and all the Marvel execs,” continued DuVernay. “In the end, it comes down to story and perspective. And we just didn't see eye to eye. Better for me to realize that now than cite creative differences later.”
[h/t The Wrap]