Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Black Panther?

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost, G.I. Joe) during a Comic-Con red carpet told MTV News that he's been talking to Marvel about bringing the African warrior-king known as The Black Panther to the big screen.

"We're talking to Marvel about 'Black Panther,'" Akinnuoye-Agbaje told MTV News. "This is the first round, so you know, hopefully they'll look at 'G.I. Joe' and see the potential. But it's about time we have a black superhero, isn't it?"

Akinnuoye-Agbaje said his hopes were high for the film, and the conditions were never better for it to get the green light.

"He's from a fictional village in Africa and the timing is so right for that kind of character to come through," he said. "And while I'm in my prime, this is the time. We've got [U.S. President Barack] Obama, now we need something on screen to represent, so... 'Panther,' man."

Do you think he would make a good Black Panther?

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Marvel Studios to develop Nighthawk, Iron Fist, Black Panther and more

With more than 5,000 crime fighters and villains in its library, Marvel Entertainment is looking for some help in adapting those characters into films.
Comicbook giant is readying to assemble a group of scribes who will pen scripts for various properties Marvel wants to develop.

The writers group will be similar to that created by the fellowship program the Walt Disney Co. has been running since 1990. Latter enlists a dozen scribes to work with creative execs to develop films for the studio and TV shows for ABC, the Disney Channel and ABC Family.

Marvel will invite up to five writers each year to work on specific projects, said a source familiar with the deal. Those could include staffers behind Marvel's comicbooks.

The company will provide the specific pitches it wants the scribes to tackle. Those could involve certain plot points for movies already in development or characters it would like to see in its future film slate.

Gathering of scribes will help Marvel come up with creative ways to launch its lesser-known properties, such as Black Panther, Cable, Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Nighthawk and Vision.

So far, it has focused its efforts on more popular superheroes like Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America.

It was especially encouraged when Iron Man, who wasn't as well known as Spider-Man, Superman or Batman, was able to cross over and launch a new franchise with a $582 million haul at the worldwide B.O.

Writers will receive a salary for the year. Disney fellows receive around $50,000. Marvel's payment could double that.

A group of Marvel execs will choose the scribes, with the final decision made by Kevin Feige, Marvel Studio's prexy of production.

High-profile writers such as Justin Theroux, Mark Protosevich, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely and Zak Penn, who are currently adapting "Iron Man 2," "Thor," "The First Avenger: Captain America" and "The Avengers," respectively, will not be part of the group.

Terms call for Marvel to own whatever the writers work on during the year. Company has the option to continue a relationship with the scribes after that period.

The group, whose first members are currently being recruited, is expected to begin tackling projects this year.

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Source: Variety

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Black Panther animated series - could it result in a live action movie?

Reggie Hudlin, who will writes the Black Panther comic book and now is helping guide the Black Panther animated series, is also a successful filmmaker, having directed House Party and Boomerang, and also episodes of Everybody Hates Chris and The Bernie Mac Show. On top of that, the voice cast for the Black Panther series boasts several film actors, including Djimon Hounsou as the Black Panther, along with Alfre Woodard as the Panther's mother and Kerry Washington as his sister.

Today, at New York Comic Con's panel for Black Panther, a fan asked Hudlin if he'd like the opportunity to direct a Black Panther movie, should such a project come to fruition. This caused Hudlin's fellow panelist John Romita Jr. to turn and ask Hudlin if he was casting the series with thoughts of a film in mind, noting that the actors all seemed like naturals to appear in a live-action version. Hudlin said that when it came to the character of Black Panther, "I'd like to be involved in it in every medium," but added, "I don't know if they'll ever be a movie that I'll be involved in," saying the decision was not in his hands.

Marvel Comics' Axel Alonso noted that it was thanks to the Spider-Man animated series and the live-action Hulk series that many non-comics readers came to know those characters, and said he could see how excited Hudlin was by the character, and that if a film came about, Hudlin has "put himself into the running for top consideration." He added that when it came to Hudlin's writing of the comic book, "Black Panther is where Black Panther is because of Reggie" and that he hopes the new TV series "is the oxygen for the explosion of the movie."

Marvel Animation's Eric Rollman brought up that before the highly successful 1990s X-Men series, those characters were "mostly unknown" outside of comic book readers, and that they saw the Black Panther series as an opportunity to introduce this character to a wider audience. Based on how successful the show is, Rollman said "Then we'll look at it very seriously for the next evolution" and that he thought there was a good chance "Reggie would be a part of that." Hudlin smiled and remarked, "We'll see."

Source: IGN

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Djimon Hounsou to be Black Panther in animated series

MTV have news on a Black Panther animated series which sounds pretty cool.

Djimon Hounsou, the award-winning actor who played prominent roles in “Blood Diamond” and “Gladiator,” will soon be lending his voice to one of Marvel’s most prominent heroes: Black Panther, T'Challa. Variety reports that Hounsou has agreed to provide the voice of T’Challa, king of the technologically-advanced African nation of Wakanda in the Marvel Universe, in the upcoming animated series produced by Marvel Animation and set to air in early 2009 on BET.

The animated series will be based on a 2005 story arc from the “Black Panther” comics, scripted by former BET Networks president Reginald Hudlin, featuring a reimagining of sorts of the character’s origin that placed him among the select few Marvel characters to stand toe-to-toe with Captain America.

Black Panther made his debut in a 1966 issue of "Fantastic Four,” and has fought villains as both a solo act and as a member of various superhero teams over the years — including a recent stint with his wife, Storm of the X-Men, substituting for Reed and Sue Richards on the Fantastic Four. Marvel recently announced that the “Black Panther” print series will be relaunching in February 2009 with a new, female hero donning the Black Panther costume.

According to Marvel Animation rep Eric Rollman, “‘The Black Panther’ is Marvel’s entrée into prime-time animation, and Djimon raises the bar for all involved as we bring the best in the animation business together to execute that vision.”

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