Joe Robert Cole (born January 1, 1980) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for his Emmy Award-nominated and Writers Guild of America Award-winning work on the first season of the true crime anthology television series American Crime Story, titled The People v. O. J. Simpson, and for co-writing the film Black Panther and its sequel, Wakanda Forever.

Cole, an only child, moved around a lot growing up, which he felt "prepared" him to be a writer, a desire he only discovered during college. He soon applied to the University of California, Berkeley.

During his tenure at the university, Cole entered the film business, working as a writer on the 2006 film ATL, although not receiving a credit. In 2011, he released his first feature film as a director and writer, Amber Lake.

After writing a "Chinatown-style cop script," Cole was invited to a meeting with Marvel Studios, where he was told that they had plans of doing a movie about the character War Machine. He pitched a story and was chosen to write the film, but, according to him, "They decided, based on what Iron Man 3 was going to be, they weren't going to do War Machine anymore." Marvel subsequently invited him to join its writers program.

In regards to the program, Cole said:

The way it works—and I'm only speaking for myself here—is they give you an office and a character. You read all the comics with that character, and then you come up with a story you see for that character. You present it, get notes, and if everything moves along, you're greenlit to write the script.

In 2014, Cole wrote a script for a projected movie about the Inhumans.

In 2016, the television series American Crime Story was released. Cole served as co-producer of the first season, The People v. O. J. Simpson, and wrote two episodes, "The Race Card" (for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or a Dramatic Special) and "A Jury in Jail."

While working on The People v. O. J. Simpson, Cole was approached by Marvel Studios' producer Nate Moore, wanting to know if he was willing to write a film about Black Panther. He immediately accepted. Cole was part of a competition but was ultimately chosen to write the screenplay with director Ryan Coogler.

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