Forest Whitaker is one of many esteemed actors joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the next couple of years, and he’s chosen arguably the most promising project on Marvel’s docket to make his first appearance: Black Panther. Whitaker has known the film’s director, Ryan Coogler, for a number of years now, even serving as a producer on his acclaimed directorial debut Fruitvale Station, but this time around they’re working together in an actor-director relationship.
Whitaker guested on The Empire Film Podcast (via Screen Rant) to promote Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and talked about his feelings toward Coogler and working with him in a different capacity. “I’m excited to do it. I mean I think Ryan’s an amazing filmmaker,” the actor said. “I’ve got a chance to know him since college, so I’m excited to see what it’s like to be working with him on the other side, not as a producer but as an actor cause that’s how we started with Fruitvale Station.”
Black Panther is no Fruitvale Station and puts a well over $100 million budget in the hands of Coogler, a major jump from even his most expensive film to date, Creed, which was made for $35 million. The director is two for two when it comes to feature films, so he’ll certainly look to continue his winning streak with T’Challa’s first solo film.
Black Panther is slated to go into production in January, with Coogler (Creed) directing a cast that sees Captain America: Civil War star Boseman joined by Lupita Nyong’o (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) as Nakia, Michael B. Jordan (Fantastic Four) as Erik Killmonger, Danai Gurira (The Walking Dead) as Okoye, Winston Duke (Person of Interest) as M’Baku, Forest Whitaker (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) as Zuri, Daniel Kaluuya (Black Mirror) as W’Kabi, Angela Bassett (American Horror Story) as Ramonda, Florence Kasumba (Captain America: Civil War) as Ayo and Letitia Wright (Ready Player One) in an unknown role. The film is set for release on February 16, 2018.
