Ava DuVernay, the female director behind Selma, is being eyed by the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to direct one of its future superhero films - possibly Black Panther or Captain Marvel.
The Wrap exclusively revealed that Black Panther, which has been slated for release in July 2018, is the most likely possibility.
The news surfaced the same time that the American Civil Liberties Union asked state and federal agencies to investigate Hollywood's hiring practices at major studios, networks, and talent agencies, since there are allegedly rampant gender discrimination in Hollywood.
It is interesting to note that a woman has never directed a Marvel movie. Patty Jenkins was supposed to have been the first, since she had been recruited to direct Thor: The Dark World. However, due to "creative differences" with the studio, she quit the job and the task has been passed on to Alan Taylor.
When Michelle MacLaren, original director of the Wonder Woman film which stars Israeli actress Gal Gadot, suffered from the same "creative differences" with Warner Bros, she was replaced by Jenkins.
According to sources, Marvel is pretty eager to get female directors to handle both Black Panther and Captain Marvel. If they are successful with getting DuVernay, then she would be Marvel's first African-American and female director.
Black Panther will star Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa, the prince of Wakanda who is forced to take over his father's throne and avenge his death.
Meanwhile, Captain Marvel has no lead actress as of the moment but it will follow the story of a woman named Carol Danvers who receives powers after encountering an alien from the Kree Empire. It has been slated for release on November 2, 2018. It will be Marvel's first female-driven movie and will be written by Guardians of the Galaxy writer Nicole Perlman and Inside Out writer Meg LeFauve.
When DuVernay failed to get the Best Director Award for helming Selma during the most recent Academy Awards, people were in total disbelief. However, she has been in high demand since working on the critically-acclamed film. She is currently working on a television series for Oprah Winfrey's OWN network called Queen Sugar, and she has just finished working on CBS' civil rights drama pilot for For Justice.
Word has it that DuVernay has also agreed to work on a yet untitled Hurricane Katrina movie at Participant Media, which will star her fellow producer David Oyelowo.
