According to Entertainment Weekly, Coogler also became interested in the X-Men in general because of the way that the mutants struggle was a parallel for race relations. it was only after Bishop and the X-Men instilled a love of comics in Coogler that he went to his local comic book shop in Oakland, California looking for other black superheroes.
It was then that he was introduced to Black Panther, a character he would now help bring to life at the movies.
We all look for ways to relate our favorite fictional characters, so it’s no surprise that Ryan Coogler found a kinship not just in Bishop but in the X-Men in general.