John Singleton has long wanted to make the movie adaption of the cartoon super hero Luke Cage, but it seems that the studios have been giving him a hard time. Recently though, in speaking to blackfilm.com, the director lets slip that he’s been offered the chance to direct the Black Panther movie.
“There is a race to see if I'm going to do 'Luke Cage' first or 'Black Panther'. I really wanted to do both of those pictures. I've always been a fan of Marvel comics, so it depends. I can do 'Cage' or 'Black Panther'. I've just been approached about doing 'Black Panther'.”
“There's scripts on it [Luke Cage]. Hollywood has a very limiting view on what makes a pop culture picture. If you put a black face on it, they think it's black thing; but yet we have all these movies that have come up and whenever they any black people in it, they make all this money. That's the thing that's holding 'Luke Cage' up. They think it's a small superhero movie. It's not going to be a small stupid movie like 'Meteor Man'. I'm trying to make 'Luke Cage'.”
Luke Cage, the mis-convicted prisoner who underwent a experimental procedure to grant him superhuman strength and titanium-hard skin has long been a favorite of fans, despite some of the public criticism that followed the exploitation of black comic heroes in the 70’s and 80’s.
The Black Panther on the other hand, is the ceremonial title given to the chief of the Panther Tribe, located in the fictional country of Wakanda in Africa (Wakanda being the fictional part… not Africa). The modern day Black Panther, T’Challa, has had a long affiliation with The Avengers and a long career as a superhero, in addition to his chiefly duties.