"Black Panther" director Ryan Coogler may not be a household name yet, but as Marvel Studios' youngest filmmaker he's already being linked to Hollywood's biggest power players. In 2013, he gained attention and acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival with the release of his debut film "Fruitvale Station." Now, just five years later, the 31-year-old is being hailed by IndieWire as a next-generation Steven Spielberg after the success of "Black Panther," his third film, which brought in a record-breaking $235 million during its opening weekend. His relationship with the film's storyline dates back to his childhood in Oakland, California. He tells NPR that as a kid he often hung out at a comic book shop near his school where he was handed his first copy of "Black Panther" after inquiring about comic books with black people. At the time, Coogler had no idea that filmmaking would one day be his calling. He explains to Filmmaker Magazine that up until college he had aspirations to play football and become a doctor.

Photo courtesy of Getty

As a student-athlete at Saint Mary's College, Coogler took a creative writing class in which he wrote about a time his father almost bled to death in his arms. Afterward, his professor called him into her office and asked what he wanted to do with his life. He explained that he wanted to be a doctor, but his professor convinced him to consider screenwriting instead. When Saint Mary's cancelled its football program, Coogler transferred to Sacramento State on scholarship. It was there where a professor told him about USC film school. "It was either go there or play wide receiver," he says. "I was short, my prospects weren't the highest, so I jumped off that cliff and drove to L.A." During his first semester at USC he lived out of his car and used his experience as inspiration for a series of short films, including "Fig," which chronicles the story of a prostitute trying to positively change her life while raising a daughter. "That film is from deep research," he tells Filmmaker Magazine. "I spent Christmas break on the streets and got a lot of stories. I never want to shy away from the truth." After his first semester, an unarmed African-American male named Oscar Grant was shot to death by a police officer in Coogler's hometown of Oakland. The incident, which sparked riots throughout the Bay Area, inspired Coogler to bring Grant's story to life in his first feature film, "Fruitvale Station." With a low budget of $900,000, Coogler recruited some of his friends to be producers for the project. When "Fruitvale Station" was released in 2013, the then 27-year-old director received instant recognition from several festivals and film entities including Sundance, the New York Film Critics Circle Awards and the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards. His film also caught the attention of actor and filmmaker Sylvester Stallone, who Coogler worked with for his second movie, 2015's "Creed," a spinoff of the famed "Rocky" series.

Actor Sylvester Stallone who plays the lead role as a boxer Rocky Balboa in the popular U.S. film series. Eduardo Parra | FilmMagic | Getty Images