Matthew Percefull
Ryan Coogler has made a name for himself as one of our modern auteurs. With only five films under his belt, he has made it clear that he has a unique vision. Coogler is a talented craftsman with a deep love for genre storytelling. He can mix social commentary with entertainment in a way that feels effortless. Though most of his films have been confined to IP and brand recognition, Coogler can always make his voice shine through. This has all culminated in the success of his new original vampire chiller, Sinners.
Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably had at least one conversation about Sinners this week. It’s an original hit already poised for a healthy box office return. It’s rare in the current media landscape for a director to create a cultural hit without a familiar brand behind them. With Sinners, Coogler has set forward a new phase in his career. He’s cemented as one of our young auteurs along with names like Greta Gerwig and Jordan Peele.
With Sinners lighting up the box office, now seems a great time to reflect on his career. Here is a ranking of Ryan Coogler’s filmography to date.
5. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
With the sequel to Black Panther, Coogler had a lot on his plate. Not only was this the sequel to a billion-dollar movie and a continuation of a massive franchise, but it also acted as a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman. After Boseman’s tragic passing in 2020, many fans called for a recast of T’Challa. Not doing so was seen as a mistake, but saying goodbye to Chadwick through his character was a beautiful way to honor him while still maintaining what the first film was successful at.
Wakanda Forever is flawed. There are way too many plot threads, most of which solely exist to promote a future installment of the MCU. These moments do distract from the narrative, but they’re never enough to weigh it down. The Namor storyline is incredibly nuanced and features one of Coogler’s trademarks, sympathetic villains. It’s hard for directors to shine in the Marvel machine. They typically get lost in all of the noise. Coogler is a proven exception to this rule. While some of the larger connectivity can get in his way, he never lets it stop him from telling the story he wants to tell.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is at the bottom here, but it does prove that Coogler’s style is unflappable, no matter the system he works under. An auteur who’s able to work well in the studio system can be a rare sight. Coogler’s flexibility as well as his love for source material will be recurring themes in this list.
4. Black Panther (2018)
I might get killed for this one. Black Panther is a top-of-the-line superhero film. It blends energetic action with deep themes about oppression and reparation. Michael B Jordan has a career-defining villain turn as Killmonger. The soundtrack was culturally relevant and has aged well over time. But the third act is super clunky.
It’s so obvious that Coogler felt pressured to end the film with a big battle sequence. It is a superhero flick, so why would you not want your hero and villain to punch each other? In Black Panther, the way it happens just feels a bit rushed. The story feels like it’s headed for a long emotional conversation between T’Challa and Killmonger. We sort of get a small version of that, but it’s after a CGI fight that goes on too long. The catharsis feels cheap coming off the heels of that.
Besides the third act troubles, Black Panther is triumphant. Every piece of praise I gave to its sequel can be applied tenfold here. It’s fresh and was just what Marvel needed at the time it came out. Coogler proved in just his third film that a unique and creative voice can improve franchise storytelling.
3. Fruitvale Station (2013)
Fruitvale Station is an unflinching debut. Ryan Coogler came out of the gate swinging with this emotional true-life tragedy. Fruitvale Station could have been exploitative—a sensationalist piece that uses the death of an innocent black man for entertainment. Instead, Coogler takes the opportunity to show an immense amount of empathy while trying to teach America a few lessons about itself.
While it might seem small on first glance, Fruitvale Station was monumental in Coogler’s story as a director. It marked the beginning of the amazing ongoing collaboration with Michael B Jordan. This movie helped ascend them both to new heights. Fruitvale Station is an important story, told by young hungry artists who need to tell it. It is the blueprint for everything these two men will go on to create together.
Even with a small budget, Ryan Coogler feels fully formed on his first outing. Right away, its obvious that this is a director with a clear perspective on how he wants to express. Fruitvale Station is one of those films you can only stomach watching once. But that one watch is life-changing.
2. Creed (2015)
“A Rocky spinoff about Apollo Creed’s son? Who asked for that?” I remember thinking after seeing the first trailer for Creed. It seemed like one of those soulless cash grabs that audiences would collectively forget exists in a few months. I couldn’t have been more incorrect. It’s a great boxing movie, and Ryan Coogler shows off what he can do with a more substantial budget.
Creed is the shining example of what a legacy sequel should be. It admires the original Rocky series but understands the aspects that are outdated and cleverly modernizes it. The cheesy montage music now has booming bass and Meek Mill rapping over it. The boxing scenes are awe-inspiring and build upon the style established in the original Rocky film. It doesn’t rely on references either. It only uses them to elevate the story.
Michael B Jordan is fantastic once again as Adonis Creed. This is where he hit his sweet spot as a movie star. The return of Stallone as Rocky also does this film a huge favor. His role as a mentor is a great way to pass the torch. The Rocky series was seen as a corny and dated franchise until Creed brought new life into it.
1. Sinners (2025)
Vampire stories are as old as the medium of film. They’ve always come and gone but more recently we’ve seen a resurgence in the blood sucking monsters on screen. Sinners isn’t your typical vampire film, though. It features them heavily, but Sinners is a historical epic first and a horror film second. Ryan Coogler masterfully paints a historic backdrop to plop our characters right into. The 1930s setting is ripe for cultural criticism and also offers a unique aesthetic for a genre film.
Sinners is Ryan Coogler’s purest creation. Every aspect of it came from his mind and historical knowledge. He didn’t have an iconic franchise or a connected universe confining him in this time. Sinners has one of the boldest scenes I’ve seen in the 2020s so far. If you’ve seen Sinners, you’ll know the scene. Ryan Coogler oozes confidence and enthusiasm, and it’s contagious when you watch it. He’s able to wrestle with colonization, the Jim Crow South, religion, and race dynamics without losing any of the sensual fun that inhabits the narrative.
Every great director has their calling card film. The film that showcases their style and voice perfectly. Sinners will be that film for Coogler. This will be looked at for a long time as an example of what you can do with an original story. Hopefully, the critical and financial success of Sinners inspires more original stories in its vein. I hope Ryan Coogler continues this exciting trajectory he’s on. In only five films, he is making an impressive career for himself.
