Marvel's BLACK PANTHER Solo Film Finds a Screenwriter

According to The Wrap, Marvel Studios' Black Panther solo film has found its screenwriter. The outlet reports that writer Joe Robert Cole is "nearing a deal" to write the 2018 release, which will star Chadwick Boseman in the title role and perhaps Andy Serkis reprising his role of Ulysses Klaw from Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Additionally, they claim that despite an earlier report that Straight Outta Compton helmer F. Gary Gray was in contention to direct Black Panther, Marvel has decided to wait until they have a finished screenplay before they go out to any directors. According to their sources, the directing job is still "wide open" and there aren't any serious contenders at this time. That's probably good news for fans, since Gray has entered negotiations to direct Furious 8 and would have had to go directly into Black Panther with no break in between, which could have potentially had a negative effect on both movies.

Cole, who wrote and directed the 2011 movie Amber Lake, is part of Marvel's in-house screenwriting program and is rumored to have written a draft of the screenplay for the studio's 2019 release The Inhumans, although that draft "is not expected to be used." After sticking mostly with white male filmmakers for its first ten years of operation, Marvel Studios is placing importance on diversity for both Black Panther and Captain Marvel, looking to hire black and female filmmakers (respectively) for those projects.

Black Panther hits theaters on July 6th, 2018.