-

With Marvel Studios' Black Panther set to dominate the box office when it opens in theaters February 16th, Disney recently held a press junket here in Los Angeles and I got to sit down with director Ryan Coogler for an exclusive video interview. While I had a million things racing through my head that I wanted to talk about during the brief time I’d have with him, while watching the movie I noticed both Donald and Stephen Glover were thanked during the end credits. Since I hadn’t heard anything about them being involved in the film, I decided to use some of my precious time to find out why they got a thank you and I also asked Coogler about editing next to director Ava DuVernay (she was editing A Wrinkle in Time in the same location) and how long was his first cut of the film.

As everyone that reads Collider knows, written by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, the film stars Chadwick Boseman  as T’Challa/Black Panther (first introduced in Captain America: Civil War), who returns home to the isolated and advanced nation of Wakanda in the wake of his father’s death to assume his rightful place as king. Matters are complicated when his place on the throne is put into question. Black Panther also stars Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis.

Check out what Ryan Coogler had to say in the player above and below is what we discussed followed by the official synopsis.

Finally, for more on Black Panther, you can read Haleigh Foutch’s glowing review.

Ryan Coogler:

• How long was his first cut of Black Panther?
• What did Donald and Stephen Glover do to get a thank you in the credits?
• Talks about editing near Ava DuVernay and what they would discuss.

Here’s the official synopsis for Black Panther:

Marvel Studios’ Black Panther follows T’Challa who, after the death of his father, the King of Wakanda, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king. But when a powerful old enemy reappears, T’Challa’s mettle as king -and Black Panther- is tested when he is drawn into a formidable conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people and their way of life.