Ryan Coogler Talks About Michael B. Jordan's Biggest Asset as an Obstacle When Casting Him as a Villain in BLACK PANTHER

Michael B. Jordan had several high profile TV roles under his belt before meeting director Ryan Coogler, but had never led a film in a starring role. Coogler changed that when hiring Jordan to star in his 2013 docudrama, Fruitvale Station, which was also Coogler’s debut feature film.

Since then, the pair have worked together on the first two Black Panther movies, Creed, and most recently, Sinners, which won Jordan the Best Actor Academy Award and Coogler the Best Original Screenplay Award.

Coogler obviously saw very early the talent in Jordan that everyone else now sees in every performance, but part of Jordan’s magnetism is in his charm, and Coogler actually believes that aspect of his personality worked against them in making Black Panther.

In the film, Jordan plays T’Challa’s cousin, Erik Killmonger, the son of Prince N'Jobu (T'Chaka's brother). After T'Chaka kills N'Jobu for betraying Wakanda, a young Erik is left behind in America. He grows up to become a brutal U.S. Navy SEAL and black-ops operative, earning the nickname "Killmonger" for his high body count.

He travels to Wakanda to challenge the throne, and viewers are faced with complicated feelings for a villain whose past and intentions are not clearly evil.

Killmonger was both a revolutionary and a cynic, understandably embittered by the world’s injustice, and eager to remake the fictional African kingdom of Wakanda in his own image, or, perhaps, destroy it.

Coogler said of the character, “We’ve got to believe that he can take down all of Wakanda, that he’s capable of harming our heroes. That’s even harder to do when you have that charisma.”

In typical comic book villains like Green Goblin, Thanos, Gorr the God Butcher, Red Skull, and many more, you see them and know they are clearly a grotesque evil entity, but with characters like Killmonger, it’s not only easier to empathize, but easier to dismiss them as a threat. Luckily Jordan is as good an actor as he is charismatic, and he pulled off the role with ease.

Coogler is currently in pre-production on Black Panther 3, as well as the Untitled X-Files reboot, for which he will direct at least one episode. Jordan is in post-production on his remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, in which he stars and directs.

He is also in pre-production on Miami Vice ‘85, in which he will star opposite Austin Butler. Jordan will also be working on Creed IV, which he will return to star in and direct.