Ryan Coogler directed Creed last year and successfully reinvented the Rocky franchise for a whole new generation of moviegoers. Creed was well received by critics and audiences proving that he is one of the best rising filmmakers working today.

His first feature film Fruitvale Station won several awards including the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Fruitvale Station was developed and produced by Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) who spoke highly of working with Coogler on the film to the New York Times.

I’ve worked with a number of truly unique voices, true auteurs, and I can tell when I’m talking to one.

It was recently announced that Coogler would be taking on the challenge of directing Black Panther for Marvel Studios, which is the first big budget comic book adaptation starring an African American superhero. The iconic character is played by Chadwick Bosemen (42) and will make his big screen debut later this year in Captain America: Civil War.

At 29 years old, Coogler has only directed two feature films, but his already innate ability to tell a captivating story is remarkable. It will be exciting to see him bring his unique vision to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Black Panther in 2018, seeing as how he went from directing an indie to a big studio film in only about two years.