Marvel has confirmed that David Jonsson will play the new Black Panther, taking on the role of T'Challa's son, Prince T'Challa II, in "Black Panther 3," set for release on 15 December 2028. The announcement, made during Marvel's Comic-Con Hall H panel, also confirmed that director Ryan Coogler returns for the third instalment, alongside Letitia Wright reprising Shuri and Winston Duke returning as M'Baku. The casting matters because it marks a generational shift for the franchise, moving the mantle from Wright's Shuri to a new character coming of age after being introduced as a child in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever."

Wright took over the lead role following Chadwick Boseman's death from colon cancer in 2020, aged 43, and had previously indicated in a 2023 interview that a third film was already in development, saying Coogler needed time to "get back into the lab." The original 2018 "Black Panther" grossed $1.3 billion worldwide and earned seven Oscar nominations, including best picture, winning three, while 2022's "Wakanda Forever" took $859 million and secured Angela Bassett a historic supporting actress nomination, the first for a Marvel film actor. Jonsson, recently seen in "Alien Romulus" and "The Long Walk," will appear as the new hero, while Wright is due to appear first in "Avengers: Doomsday," out 18 December.