‘Black Panther’ director Ryan Coogler jets to Oakland for opening night

Director Ryan Coogler attended the press conference for the Seoul premiere of 'Black Panther' on February 5. Director Ryan Coogler attended the press conference for the Seoul premiere of 'Black Panther' on February 5. Photo: Han Myung-Gu, Getty Images For Disney Photo: Han Myung-Gu, Getty Images For Disney Image 1 of / 69 Caption Close ‘Black Panther’ director Ryan Coogler jets to Oakland for opening night 1 / 69 Back to Gallery

“Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler surprised the Bay Area on Thursday night, flying to his hometown to greet stunned crowds before screenings of his hit movie.

“I just wanted to swing by and say thank you to you guys for taking time on a Thursday night to come see the film,” he said to an already lively 10 p.m. crowd at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, most of whom had bought tickets to the sold-out screening days or weeks before. “If you all pay extra close attention, there’s a couple Easter eggs in there for the bay.”

The Oakland native, who previously directed “Fruitvale Station” and “Creed,” also showed up at the Metreon in San Francisco and AMC Bay Street 16 in Emeryville, according to social media reports.

Coogler waited until after the pre-movie trailers were over at the Grand Lake, an Art Deco movie house where he said he had watched films as a child. When the house lights went on and he was introduced by theater owner Allen Michaan, the crowd gave the director a thunderous ovation.

The Grand Lake was the first theater Coogler remembers, and he recalled a story of his dad taking him to see “whatever movie he thought a black father and black son should come see together.”

“He took me here to see ‘Boyz n the Hood’ when I was like 4 years old or 3 years old or something crazy like that,” Coogler said. “I sat right here in this back row right there and cried like crazy at the end of the movie. Probably annoyed everybody. So hopefully nobody’s got no babies here like my dad did.”

“Black Panther” is the 18th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, focusing on what had mostly been a fringe character since his comic books were introduced in 1966. The movie is expected to set box office records over the upcoming weekend.