Black Panther Director Ryan Coogler Helped With the Character in Civil War

Not only does Captain America: Civil War tell the story of Captain America, his pal Bucky, and how the Avengers are split over government control, it introduces two major new heroes. There’s Spider-Man, of course, and Black Panther. And the latter is already being shaped by his very own filmmaker.

Marvel announced a few months back that Ryan Coogler, the director of last year’s hit Creed, is going to be directing the Black Panther solo movie, which hits theaters February 2018. His seat in the Marvel Cinematic Universe came well into production of Civil War, where Panther was being introduced, but Marvel is so filmmaker-driven, it let Coogler in to see if he had any suggestions.

“Ryan came in and watched the movie,” Marvel Studios President and Civil War producer Kevin Feige told io9. “We did a little bit of additional photography here and there and Ryan did a pass at a couple of those scenes. So there’s a line or two that Panther says in the movie that Ryan contributed to. [Civil War screenwriters] Chris [Markus] and Steve [McFeely] absorbed it into their draft, put their spin on it and words to it, but Ryan has started to be involved in earlier cuts of this movie.”

Black Panther, starring Chadwick Boseman and directed by Coogler, hits theaters February 16, 2018. He’ll debut in Captain America: Civil War on May 6.