--- --- # Roxane Gay on Being the First Black Female Lead Marvel Writer: 'We Aren't Allowed to Fail'  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Nov 10, 2016 4:55 PM UTC  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Nov 10, 2016 4:55 PM UTC [Roxane Gay](http://time.com/90402/roxane-gay-an-untamed-state-review/) has made history as Marvel’s first black woman lead writer for [_Black Panther:_ _World of Wakanda_](http://time.com/4314966/black-panther-marvel-captain-america/), but her watershed achievement hasn’t been an effortless experience. The [_Bad Feminist_](http://time.com/3082038/roxane-gay-interview-bad-feminist/) writer was tapped by [Ta-Nehisi Coates and Marvel](http://time.com/4281426/ta-nehisi-coates-black-panther-marvel/) to write a spinoff story of Coates’ series, focusing on two of the Black Panther’s female bodyguards who fall in love. Writing about two women of color in a queer relationship for a mostly white, male-dominated franchise is groundbreaking, but Gay notes that it can also be daunting. In an interview with [_Complex_](http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2016/11/roxane-gay-black-panther-world-of-wakanda-interview), Gay explains that while she is proud of the work that she is doing, it’s not always easy to be a trailblazer, especially when it comes to making spaces for diversity. “All too often, black creators aren’t allowed to make mistakes,” Gay said. “We aren’t allowed to fail. If we do, we’re not only the first, we’re the last. That keeps me up at night.” However, Gay is up to the challenge — and looking to the future. “I certainly hope this isn’t the last comic book I write.” Read the full interview at [_Complex.com_](http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2016/11/roxane-gay-black-panther-world-of-wakanda-interview) Roxane Gay Talks Being the First Black Woman Marvel Lead Writer ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4564890/roxane-gay-marvel-black-panther-world-of-wakanda/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4564890/roxane-gay-marvel-black-panther-world-of-wakanda/"},"headline":"Roxane Gay on Being the First Black Female Lead Marvel Writer: 'We Aren't Allowed to Fail'","datePublished":"2016-11-10T16:55:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:38:33.859Z","description":"The writer opens up about her work on 'Black Panther: World of Wakanda'","url":"https://time.com/4564890/roxane-gay-marvel-black-panther-world-of-wakanda/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","Marvel","Culture"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4564890/roxane-gay-marvel-black-panther-world-of-wakanda/","name":"Roxane Gay on Being the First Black Female Lead Marvel Writer: 'We Aren't Allowed to Fail'"}}]}] ```