Anthony Mackie talks ‘Black Panther’ director, ‘job is to tell story’
While promoting his current film, Our Brand is Crisis, Anthony Mackie was asked about Marvel’s pursuit of a director for Black Panther.
“I don’t think it’s important at all,” the actor told The Daily Beast. “As a director your job is to tell a story,” he continued. “You know, they didn’t get a horse to direct Seabiscuit!”
Mackie went on to say that he doesn’t believe that the race of a director “has to do with their ability to tell a story,” adding, “I think it’s all about the director’s ability to be able to relate to that story and do it justice. I think men can direct women, and two of my greatest work experiences were with female directors. So I think it all depends.”
At one point, Selma director Ava DuVernay was in the mix to take on Black Panther, which features Chadwick Boseman in the title role, before dropping out because she didn’t “see eye to eye” with Marvel over the direction of the project.
The rumored candidate list is now topped by Joe Robert Cole to write the movie.
“Cole is a relative newcomer who comes from Marvel’s in-house writers program, the same program from which Guardians of the Galaxy scribe Nicole Perlman originated. He is also a writer on FX’s American Crime Story and worked on Revoc, an alien invasion project that is set up at Summit/Lionsgate,” noted THR.
Mackie’s remarks already drew criticism on social media, put the actor in hot water for the second time this week. An interview with BET on Monday, in which he appeared to endorse Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The Black Panther film was recently pushed back to 2018 after Ant-Man and Wasp was added to the Marvel schedule. Black Panther is now set to arrive in theaters on February 16, 2018.
