With its February 2018 release date inching closer, Marvel's search for a director for "Black Panther" is underway. The studio approached "Selma" director Ava DuVernay back in July, but the director passed on the project citing the lengthy commitment as one of the reasons.

Since then, the director search has continued, with the question of the director's race coming up in conversations about the film, which would feature Marvel's first black superhero in a leading role. While speaking with Screen Rant, "Creed" director Ryan Coogler -- who has himself been rumored to be up for "Black Panther" -- weighed in on just how important a director's race is when it comes to directing T'Challa's film.

"Yeah, I think it's important," said Coogler. "Perspective is so important in art. It's an important thing. That's not to say that you can't work outside yourself. When I was coming up, I made movies about things that were close to me; I made movies about things that weren't close to me. But I definitely think that it helps when you are close to a subject. Like, I was an athlete for most of my life before I was a filmmaker. And that helped to inform me when writing this script [for 'Creed'], when directing. Having had those types of experiences helped me inform this process."

Coogler went on to cite Martin Scorsese's career, noting that "generally" people will say his best films are the ones about the Italian American experience. "People are going to throw out 'Goodfellas,' they gonna throw out 'Mean Streets' because it was something that was close to him. That's not say that 'Departed' isn't a great movie. But the proximity...you could feel the director's proximity to a movie like 'Goodfellas' a little better because he grew up in that neighborhood. He grew up in Little Italy. That was his world."

The "Creed" director then spoke about what he would do were he charged with finding a director for a film with a groundbreaking lead. "[I]f I was in a position where I'm making a movie about the first woman superhero that's ever going to get released all over the world, I would do everything in my power to find a woman to direct that movie out of the simple fact that I think it will give you a cultural perspective," said Coogler. "I don't think that's wrong of a studio to do. I think it's actually responsible. It's responsible because it's their job to make the truest, best film."

"Creed" opens on November 25; "Black Panther" arrives on February 16, 2018.