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My perspective is skewed (I write about pop culture all day), but I don't think it's unfair to say that Ryan Coogler is a household name. He certainly is for Marvel Cinematic Universe fans: to them, he's known as the director of both Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Naturally, the question on everyone's minds when it comes to Coogler these days is, 'When are you making Black Panther 3,' but as it turns out, the fact that that question is so ubiquitous is the reason Coogler hasn't made it yet.

Ahead of the release of his new film, Sinners, Coogler spoke to Deadline about why he chose to make the vampire horror flick before exploring the next chapter of Wakanda in the MCU. But to fully understand his reasoning, you're going to have to comprehend a bit of a recent existential crisis that the moviemaker had.

"I’m almost 40," said Coogler, "I got this company that can make things. I’ve engaged with audiences all over the planet, man. Who can say, at my age, that they’ve had four movies released theatrically? And yet I still haven’t really opened myself up to the audience... I still haven’t brought something that was just me."

Again, maybe this is my bias talking, but that is a surprising thing to hear. Coogler has not only made his mark on the MCU with the Black Panther films, but is largely responsible for reinvigorating the biggest sports franchise in American cinema with Creed, and even before that, with putting frequent collaborator Michael B. Jordan on the map with the 2013 thriller Fruitvale Station. And yet, Coogler's got a point - even with his well-known work, there's a lot that audiences don't know about him.

In particular, his love for horror.

"How funny is it," Coogler told his interviewer, "that when I say, Hey, I’m making a horror movie, and people are surprised. But if you know me, I love those movies. If I had to reckon with the fact that the audience doesn’t truly know me."

That love for horror is certainly a big reason that Coogler's upcoming film is Sinners and not Black Panther, but as the director himself tells it, it's the idea of audiences not understanding who he was that pushed the latter back.

"I got scared that I would look up and be 50 and would still be in that situation," Coogler concludes, "And by then, I might not have anything to say. So [Sinners] was made because I had to make it right now. And with the people that I wanted to make it with, it had to happen now. Or if not, it wouldn’t. I feared that. And that was why now."

I know it's not exactly what real-world Wakandans want to hear, but I'd offer that this delay is better not just for Coogler himself, but for all the movies he'll make in the future, MCU entires included. In an artistic journey, isn't it more important that, rather than pursue a multipronged cinematic universe, an artist gets to explore their passions and grow in that field? Especially in what's arguably the most important genre right now?

Now that definitely is my bias talking.

Sinners comes to theaters April 18.

In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." We couldn't agree more, which is why we've cobbled together a couple pieces to send a chill up your spine. Join Popverse as we explore:

• The best horror movies of all time, according to horror aficionado Greg Silber
• The most underrated horror movies from the past couple years
• All the new and upcoming horror movies for 2025 and beyond

And much gore. Er, more. Much more.