Selma director Ava DuVernay was rumored to be taking on Marvel’s upcoming Black Panther film, but she said Friday that she passed on the opportunity to become the first black woman to direct a superhero movie.
DuVernay told Essence she met with the studio but opted out of the project, citing a concern of creative differences.
“I’m not signing on to direct Black Panther,” she told the magazine. “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.”
Actor Chadwick Boseman is slated to play the role of T’Challa, the first mainstream black superhero, who first appeared in the comic world in the 1960s.
DuVernay told the site she loved the story’s characters, including Boseman’s, but didn’t agree with the direction Marvel wanted to take the project.
“I loved meeting Chadwick and the writers and all the Marvel execs,” she said. “In the end, it comes down to story and we just didn’t see eye to eye. Better for me to realize that now than cite creative differences later.”
DuVernay and Selma actor David Oyelowo are currently filming a murder mystery set in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Black Panther is scheduled for a summer 2018 release.
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