Age: 40
male
Ryan Kyle Coogler (born May 23, 1986) is an American filmmaker. He has received an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, four Black Reel Awards, a Grammy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and ten NAACP Image Awards. Coogler directed a few short films at the USC School of Cinematic Arts before his feature-length debut with Fruitvale Station (2013). He then transitioned to directing and writing franchise films, including the Rocky series spinoff, Creed (2015), as well as the Marvel films Black Panther (2018) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). Coogler also produced the historical drama Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) and the supernatural horror film Sinners (2025), which he also wrote and directed. He received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture for both films, while for Sinners, he was also nominated for Best Director and won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. In 2013, he was included on Time's list of the 30 people under 30 who are changing the world. In 2018, Coogler was named the runner-up of Time's Person of the Year, and he was included in the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. In 2021, Coogler, his wife, Zinzi Coogler, and Sev Ohanian founded multimedia production company Proximity Media. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ryan Coogler, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
In a dark period for Wakanda, King Azzuri is dying, leaving the kingdom in limbo. His sons, T’Chaka and S’Yan, are divided over who should inherit the throne, with S’Yan nearly hating his brother over the succession. T’Chaka is the people’s choice to become king and the next Black Panther with Ramonda being pregnant, while Wakanda’s uneasy alliance with Atlantis begins to collapse. Sensing Wakanda’s weakness, Kraven the Hunter arrives with a team of hunters—Klaw, Chameleon, and a young Taskmaster—armed with technology capable of countering vibranium. The hunters exploit Wakanda’s political divisions, infiltrating the kingdom and launching attacks. Chameleon is eventually exposed when he disguises himself as Azzuri, only to be discovered by T’Chaka and imprisoned before being sent to the Raft in New York. Klaw is also defeated, leaving Kraven and Taskmaster as the final threats. As the chaos escalates, Wakanda struggles to protect its royal family and must decide who will become the Black Panther. Azzuri is critically wounded amid the fighting. Before he can die naturally, Taskmaster finds him and kills him. S’Yan, enraged, takes the Black Panther suit despite never completing the ritual and attacks Taskmaster without its powers. For the first time, Taskmaster cannot keep up. Though S’Yan nearly defeats him, Kraven intervenes to save his younger ally, killing S’Yan before fleeing with Taskmaster. T’Chaka arrives too late and confronts Kraven at the waterfall. With no time for the ritual, the two fight as ordinary men in a brutal, bloody battle. Both are pushed to their limits, but T’Chaka finally overpowers Kraven, beats him down, strikes him with his own dagger, and knocks him over the waterfall. T’Chaka is hailed as Wakanda’s rightful king. During his coronation, he honors S’Yan as the true king—the man who fought for his father and kingdom without power, just as T’Chaka did. He vows to protect Wakanda and then undergoes the ritual, becoming its new Black Panther.
