John Singleton has revealed that he's being offered the Black Panther film, and that this will compete for his time on a Luke Cage film, should that start moving further forward than it has to date.

For some time there's been talk of whether or not a Luke Cage film will get made, John Singleton himself has been unsure and is convinced that Hollywood are struggling with the ideas of a black superhero who is not so clearly good. He talked about that some time before, and does again in the comments to BlackFilm through Comic Book Movie.

"That's the thing that's holding 'Luke Cage' up. They think it's a small superhero movie. It's not going to be a small stupid movie like 'Meteor Man'. I'm trying to make 'Luke Cage'."

However Luke Cage might be on hold as he says that he's in a race to make Black Panther as well.

"There is a race to see if I'm going to do 'Luke Cage' first or 'Black Panther'. I really wanted to do both of those pictures. I've always been a fan of Marvel comics, so it depends. I can do 'Cage' or 'Black Panther'. I've just been approached about doing 'Black Panther'."

Black Panther or T'Challa, is a superhero who is perhaps the first modern black superhero. He first appeared in 1966 and is the leader of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. Tradition has it that the leader of the tribe wears the Black Panther costume for ceremonies and has use of a local herb that gives the eater strength, agility and perception. You can read more about the character over on Wikipedia.

To me the Luke Cage character sounds more interesting, he's a more complex character and less simply heroic. However in order to get the studios to give him the leeway to make that film, it might perhaps take the making of the much more templated Black Panther story.

Either way, John Singleton is a great choice for both films, and he seems keen.