As hindsight is known to be 20/20, it makes perfect sense that filmmaker Ryan Coogler would make an incredible superhero film, especially “Black Panther.” But well before the film’s monster box office run and almost universal critical acclaim, the director reveals that he wasn’t sure it was going to turn out good at all, let alone the cultural phenomenon it became.
Speaking to IndieWire, Coogler talked about making the first “Black Panther” film and how the pressure seems to be only growing as he steps up to direct the sequel to the film, his first sequel as a director.
“The most surprising thing [about ‘Black Panther’] is just that it worked, just that it was a movie at all,” Coogler said. “As long and hard as the process was, oftentimes I would be like, ‘I don’t know if this thing is gonna work, I’m not even sure this is making sense. But you keep chipping away at it, chipping away at it.”
Now, after the film grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide and made T’Challa a household name, as well as cementing Michael B. Jordan as a force in front of the camera, Coogler has signed on to do it all over again with Marvel Studios. Of course, Kevin Feige and Company haven’t officially announced that “Black Panther 2” is greenlit with a release date yet, but once can assume we’ll be seeing the sequel sooner rather than later. And at that time, it won’t be a surprise. In fact, millions of fans will expect yet another home run from Coogler.
And that explains the pressure of doing a sequel to a massive hit. However, the filmmaker isn’t worried. “I think the pressure is kind of always going to be there,” he said. “I’ve had a chance to make three feature films, each one of them had its own very specific type of pressure. In the process of it, it feels insurmountable each time.”
He continues, “When it comes to making a sequel, I’ve never done it before, a sequel to something that I’ve directed myself. So I think there’s gonna be a lot of pressure there, but what we’re going to try to do is just focus on the work, like we always do. Really try to go step by step and try to quiet everything else around us, really focus on trying to make something that has some type of meaning.”
Currently, Marvel Studios, Disney, and Coogler are hoping “Black Panther” gets some award season love this year. The studio is pushing hard in almost every category come Oscar time. And if the film wins a significant award, that’s only going to make the anticipation for the sequel that much higher. But it sounds like Coogler is the right guy for the job.