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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler is not only one of the best young filmmakers in Hollywood but he’s clearly one of the most committed, too, as the 36-year-old recently revealed he learned how to swim specifically to shoot the movie.
“A lot of us were raised to have fear of water,” the 36-year-old filmmaker told Variety. “I had to figure out how to swim so I could direct this movie.”
“It’s a lot of Black and Mesoamerican folks in water in this movie… If the camera’s in the water, actors are in the water, I’ve got to be in there too,” Coogler explained in an interview with Variety.
Despite being just 36 years old, Coogler has already directed critically acclaimed films such as Fruitvale Station, Creed, Creed II, and Black Panther. The filmmaker has been so successful, in fact, that many MCU fans are hoping to see Marvel Studios tap him to direct the 2026 epic Avengers: Secret Wars.
Wakanda Forever — which stars Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Tenoch Huerta, Winston Duke, Letitia Wright, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Martin Freeman, and Angela Bassett — hit theaters in the United States on Friday, November 11. The film serves as the final entry in the MCU’s “Phase Four”, with “Phase Five” set to launch in February with the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Marvel is set to release tons of projects next year, as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. and The Marvels are also set to hit theaters. Additionally, over on Disney+, there will be shows such as Secret Invasion, Agatha: Coven of Chaos, Echo, Ironheart, and the second season of both Loki and What If…?.