By May 2015, Marvel had discussions with Ava DuVernay to work on either Black Panther or Captain Marvel (2019) as director.[89] In June, Feige confirmed that he had met with several directors, including DuVernay, and said that he expected a decision to be made by mid- to late 2015.[90] By early July, DuVernay had passed on directing the film,[91] explaining that she had been drawn to the cultural importance of depicting a black hero to the whole world, but disagreed with Marvel on the story and did not want to compromise her vision.[91][92] By October 2015, F. Gary Gray and Ryan Coogler had been considered as directors for the film,[93][94] though negotiations with Coogler had cooled,[94] and Gray had chosen to direct The Fate of the Furious (2017) instead.[95] Joe Robert Cole, a member of the Marvel writers program, was in talks to write the screenplay,[96] and Marvel changed the release date once again, moving it to February 16, 2018.[97] By December, discussions with Coogler were reignited after the successful opening of his film Creed (2015).[94]