Ava DuVernay says she wants to direct a movie about a black superhero–but she’s not talking about “Black Panther.”
The “Selma” director tweeted that she wants to direct a movie about a more recent black “superhero” named Bree Newsome. Newsome was arrested early Saturday for climbing a thirty foot flagpole outside the South Carolina statehouse and taking down the Confederate flag.
“Yes. I hope I get the call to direct the motion picture about a black superhero I admire. Her name is @BreeNewsome,” DuVernay wrote.
TheWrap exclusively reported that DuVernay was being courted by Marvel by direct one of its upcoming comic adaptations. Many speculated that she was to direct a film version of “Black Panther,” about an African superhero from the fictional nation of Wakanda. The film will star Chadwick Boseman and is due out in July 2018.
A woman has never directed a Marvel movie, though the company did hire Patty Jenkins to direct “Thor: The Dark World.” Following creative differences, she was eventually replaced by Alan Taylor. Jenkins recently replaced Michelle MacLaren as the director of “Wonder Woman” at Warner Bros., which has been eager to beat Marvel to the proverbial punch when it comes to diversity within its comic book movie universe.
The Confederate flag has been at the center of renewed debate recently after a white supremacist shot and killed nine people at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina. South Carolina governor Nikki Haley advocated for the flag’s removal, calling on the state’s legislature to pass a resolution to take the flag down.