‘Black Panther’s Ryan Coogler Says Directing ‘Sinners’ Helped Him Defeat “Impostor Syndrome”

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The writer and director of Sinners has discussed the personal changes they experienced while creating their highly-praised vampire thriller. Starring in a dual role, the film is a visually striking story set in 1932. It follows two criminal brothers who return to their hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi, hoping to open a nightclub for the local Black community. However, they soon discover, too late, that a group of vampires intends to ruin their plans.

I recently spoke with Ryan Coogler after he landed his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Director – a huge moment for him! The ceremony is on January 11th, 2026, where he’ll be competing with some incredible filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson and Guillermo del Toro. He admitted to me that, surprisingly, he went into making Sinners filled with a lot of self-doubt. It’s fascinating to hear that even someone with his talent questioned himself going into such a project.

I always felt a lot of pressure with my previous jobs. It felt like a single failure could ruin my career here, which might have been an overreaction, but it was a real possibility. Each project had a high chance of not working out, and I worried about what that would mean for my future.

With Sinners, I felt different. By that point, I’d made a good number of films, and it really felt like a proper job. I wasn’t feeling like I was tricking anyone, or like I didn’t deserve to be there. That nagging feeling of being a fraud – the impostor syndrome – was definitely starting to fade.

Will There Be a ‘Sinners 2’?


Warner Bros. Pictures

It’s natural to talk about sequels when a truly unique movie earns nearly $370 million. However, the director of Sinners, Coogler, originally intended this film to be a standalone project. He told Ebony magazine in April that he’d been working on franchise films for a while and wanted to do something different this time.

I really wanted to create a film that felt fresh, meaningful, and truly my own. I aimed to give audiences something they hadn’t seen before – a complete and satisfying experience, like a full-course meal with everything you could want. From beginning to end, I envisioned a well-rounded, finished product, and that was always my goal throughout the process.

I was really excited to hear that, seven months after the show ended, Kevin Feige hinted on the Heroes Journey podcast for CBR that there’s still potential for more stories in this universe – especially through comic books! It gives me hope that we haven’t seen the last of this world.

Someone reached out to me with an idea. Mike is a huge Anime and Manga fan, but I’m more into American comic books and graphic novels. Actually, a lot of the storyboard artists I work with are also comic book fans. One of my artists, Louis Gonzales, mentioned someone had asked him if they could spot any comic book influences in his work while reviewing his storyboards. So, it’s something that’s definitely come up before.

Would that satisfy fans hungry for more blood? We’re not so sure…

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2026-01-05 15:02