Marvel finally found its next Black Panther

Years after King T’Challa’s death, Marvel has finally made its move, revealing the hero who will carry Wakanda forward.

Over the weekend Marvel Studios officially announced that Black Panther 3 will arrive in theaters on December 15, 2028, at San Diego Comic-Con.

While director Ryan Coogler returned to write and direct the concluding chapter of his acclaimed trilogy, the biggest reveal of the night came when it was announced that who is going to inherit the iconic mantle.

Casting of David Jonsson has been announced. The 32-year-old actor will play an aged-up Prince T'Challa II (Toussaint), the son of T'Challa and Nakia, first introduced at the end of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

The character is set to inherit the mantle of the Black Panther, marking a new era for Wakanda in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel also confirmed that Letitia Wright will reprise her role as Shuri, alongside Winston Duke as M'Baku.

Academy Award winner Denzel Washington is also joining the cast in a role reportedly written specifically for him by Coogler, although details about his character remain under wraps.

The announcement also carries emotional weight for longtime fans. Chadwick Boseman, who originated the role of King T'Challa in Captain America: Civil War (2016) before leading the landmark Black Panther (2018), passed away in 2020.

In the movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, his character passes away off-screen at the very beginning from a sudden, undisclosed illness that his sister Shuri fails to cure in time. This mirrors the real-life passing of the actor, who died of colon cancer in August 2020.

Rather than recasting the character, Marvel honoured Boseman's legacy in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever by allowing the story to move forward through his family and the next generation.