Black Panther is a historic opportunity to be a part of something important and special, particularly at a time when African Americans are affirming their identities while dealing with vilification and dehumanization. The image of a black hero on this scale is just really exciting.

Joe Robert Cole

Categorized in : Opportunity Hero African American

had two smaller scripts that I had written with full black casts. And people loved the scripts, but nobody would fund them. Those roles and stories are out there. But unless you have the money to finance movies on your own, you're beholden to others, and that is a very big limiting factor.

Joe Robert Cole

black two people

I figured out I wanted to tell stories in college. I'm an only child who moved around a lot growing up, and I really feel like it prepared me to be a storyteller - to make up stories and pretend to be every hero from every movie and TV show as a kid. So it was a natural progression.

Joe Robert Cole

growing-up hero children

When you start talking about movies of that size, they're trying to sell globally to foreign markets. So there is an economic question that can't be ignored, and that's a fair discussion to have. But maybe it's not the time to make that movie if you can't depict people accurately.

Joe Robert Cole

trying talking people

Well, TV does a better job. In film, the justification has been that movies focused on stories or featuring people of color don't make money.

Joe Robert Cole

color jobs people

Being able to interact with [studio president] Kevin Feige and have him know who I am and know me as a person, and be able to then sit down and have a conversation about story with someone who's familiar and comfortable is invaluable.

Joe Robert Cole

kevin who-i-am president

This problem [of historical opportunities] compounds itself by limiting the number of people in the pipeline to attain the experience to do larger movies or get jobs so they can familiarize themselves with a studio head and get the opportunity to deliver and impress - or maybe direct a smaller movie. It will take a considerable amount of time to rectify. It's very difficult because it starts at the top.

Joe Robert Cole

opportunity numbers jobs

I write characters focusing on them as human beings, and then you wrap them within a culture. So I think I can connect with him as a person with brown skin who's viewed differently by the world. In terms of his culture, we're thinking about where we are locating Wakanda within the continent, and what the people and history of that region are like. It's a process of investigation to help inform the story at this point. But we are going to be engaged with consultants who are experts on the continent and on African history and politics.

Joe Robert Cole

writing character thinking

Having gone through the [Marvel] writer program, I knew Black Panther was in the pipeline and I knew they were big fans of my writing. But I had to compete with the other writers who were put up for it - no one hands out jobs.

Joe Robert Cole

writing jobs hands

There is a huge fan base for the Black Panther comic and for Marvel as a whole. And I think there is great anticipation across the board for the movie. I think that's how Marvel is approaching it and I know that's how I'm approaching it.

Joe Robert Cole

panthers black thinking

Historically, opportunity has been afforded to a limited pool of people, excluding people of color and women. That doesn't diminish the talent or hard work of the people within that pool, but it does narrow the field of stories that have been told, and of the creative ideas and perspectives out there.

Joe Robert Cole

hard-work color opportunity

I think you try to extrapolate from the early civilizations and cultures of the continent, kind of looking for unique ways they set themselves apart from Western civilizations, and then pursue those avenues technologically and see where that takes you.

Joe Robert Cole

unique civilization thinking