Marvel Casts David Jonsson as T'Challa's Son in 'Black Panther 3'
Ryan Coogler returns to direct the 70mm sequel, scheduled for December 2028.
Summary
Marvel Studios has cast David Jonsson as the adult son of T'Challa in 'Black Panther 3,' extending the Wakanda saga into a new lineage
Ryan Coogler returns to direct, shooting the sequel on 70mm and continuing the franchise he launched in 2018
The announcement anchored Marvel Studios' San Diego Comic-Con panel, positioning the film to follow next year's 'Avengers: Secret Wars' within the larger MCU
Marvel Studios has confirmed Black Panther 3, with David Jonsson stepping in as the adult son of T’Challa and Ryan Coogler returning to direct. Kevin Feige and Coogler unveiled the sequel during the studio’s San Diego Comic-Con panel, revealing that the film will shoot on 70mm and arrive in theaters on December 15, 2028.
The casting hands the franchise’s emotional center to a rising talent. Jonsson has built momentum through a run of high-profile roles, including turns in Alien: Romulus and The Long Walk, alongside a main part across the first two seasons of Industry. His character picks up a thread left dangling at the close of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which revealed that Boseman’s T’Challa had a young son with Lupita Nyong’o's Nakia. How the film ages that child into a lead remains an open question, with the possibility of a time jump or other narrative device to bridge the gap.
That question sits atop a franchise carrying unusual cultural and awards weight. The 2018 original, led by the late Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, collected $1.3 billion USD at the global box office and became the first superhero feature to earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Boseman was set to reprise the role before his death in 2020 following a private battle with colon cancer, a loss that reshaped the series. The 2022 follow-up shifted its focus to Letitia Wright’s Shuri as she took up the Black Panther mantle, surpassing $850 million USD worldwide and winning an Oscar from five nominations, with Angela Bassett becoming the first performer nominated for an Academy Award for a Marvel Studios performance.
Coogler’s decision to shoot on 70mm signals the scale he is chasing for this next chapter, and the timing threads the film directly into Marvel’s broader roadmap. Because Black Panther 3 lands after next year’s Avengers: Secret Wars, it is positioned to absorb the fallout of that event and ripple outward across the MCU. The reveal shared a stage with other major panel news, including Ryan Gosling’s introduction as Ghost Rider, underscoring a Comic-Con showing built around generational hand-offs and fresh casting swings.
Black Panther 3 is set to open in theaters on December 15, 2028, with Marvel Studios expected to detail the supporting cast and story in the lead-up.
