Ryan Coogler Reveals How 'Lincoln' Inspired a Key 'Black Panther' Scene

For a major scene in "Black Panther," director Ryan Coogler took a page from Steven Spielberg's book — but not one of the legendary director's big-budget adventure films!

In his commentary track on the Blu-ray release, Coogler talks about the first waterfall fight scene, when M'Baku (Winston Duke) makes a surprise appearance to challenge T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and confront the future king about the Jabari tribe's poor treatment.

"A big inspiration for me with this scene, actually crazy enough was the film 'Lincoln,'" Coogler says.

"Lincoln" is Spielberg's 2012 historical film that starred Daniel Day-Lewis as President Abraham Lincoln.

"I remember seeing it thinking like, oh man these political scenes, really interesting. When they're in the House [of Representatives] and they're arguing these political things in a real animated way," he explains.

Coogler added, "I thought it'd be great if this dude comes out with these political arguments but it's also like a challenge to T'Challa's masculinity.