'I think it was important to have a conversation about COINTELPRO,' shared Kenny. When it came to nuance, Kenny and Keith decided to center the story on FBI informant William O'Neal versus Fred Hampton. So, this was an opportunity to not only show a more nuanced perspective of the Panthers but to also show how crude the FBI was in the assassination of Fred Hampton.' 'Back then, the police were even more vicious than the Panthers, but that wasn't a conversation that was happening in the '60s, '70s, '80s, especially in movie form. 'Their militancy and their rhetoric, it didn't come in a vacuum,' said Keith. Not only was it important for the pair to tell Fred Hampton's story on a large scale, it was important for them to clear up misconceptions about the Black Panther Party. So, while the timing was perfect now, it honestly could have been released back in 1987 and it still would have been perfect timing.' 'The whole Black experience has been one filled with both trauma and state-sanctioned trauma. It's been nearly a decade and honestly the entire time, the whole Black experience has been one filled with both trauma and state-sanctioned trauma. 'Right from the hills of Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice. 'I mean we started to develop this story in 2013 and what's interesting is that it would have been the right time then as well,' added Keith. And I think we just got the opportunity to do it,' Kenny told POPSUGAR about why they wanted to tell this particular story.Īs for why now seemed the perfect time for Judas and the Black Messiah, that was actually down to timing. 'I think it was always kind of have an obligation to tell Fred Hampton's story in such an international way. Now, they're branching out into more dramatic territory as the writers behind Judas and the Black Messiah, although director Shaka King would go on to write the screenplay with Will Berson. The duo are the minds behind the animated series Lucas Bros Moving Co, the Netflix special Lucas Brothers: On Drugs, and can be seen in 22 Jump Street, Lady Dynamite, and Friends of the People. When you think of Kenny and Keith Lucas, aka the Lucas Brothers, you're far more likely to associate them with comedy than you are drama.

Black panther screenplay finished draft