From Time Jumps to Oscar Winners, 5 Reasons To Be Hyped for Black Panther 3
If you were thinking of cashing in your MCU chips after Avengers: Secret Wars next December, the Marvel panel at last weekend's San Diego Comic Con provided a few reasons to reconsider.
Chief among them? A little movie called Black Panther 3.
Just over four months since collecting his Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Sinners, Ryan Coogler was back on stage in Hall H to confirm his next feature will be the (likely) trilogy-closing Black Panther 3 and that David Jonsson was coming on board to play T'Challa's son.
The announcement was notably the biggest moment on a banner day that had already seen a constellation of stars from Avengers: Doomsday take the stage, an in-character cameo from a denim-clad Deadpool in the crowd, and the shock reveal that Ryan Gosling will be the new Ghost Rider. Of course, Kevin Feige kept the best 'till last.
And he had every reason to: Black Panther 3 already looks like the most exciting non-Avengers movie on the MCU’s upcoming slate. Here are five reasons why it's worthy of the hype.
1. David Jonsson's Casting
There’s really only one place to start. Given that the 2026 Marvel Panel at SDCC was one of the most anticipated of the post-Endgame era, it says everything you need to know about Feige’s confidence in this movie that he brought Coogler on stage as the closer.
The director then took his turn to do a big reveal, introducing David Jonsson to the Hall H crowd as T'Challa's son and his new Black Panther. What this means for Shuri going forward is anyone's guess, but given that actor Letitia Wright was standing right beside him when he said it, the upcoming third instalment will likely be a passing of the baton.
Thankfully, MCU fans can rest assured that the baton is in the right hands. Since breaking out in HBO's Industry in 2020, Jonsson has been putting together a small but formidable body of work that’s already led some critics to call him one of the best actors of his generation. Before Saturday, Jonsson was still an outside bet to be the next Bond. This astonishing announcement will likely put those rumours to rest... at least for a while.
2. This Oscar-Winning Team Is Best in Class
For some cinephiles, the most exciting thing about a new Ryan Coogler movie is all the people that he'll be working with behind the camera. Since breaking out with his Sundance-winning Fruitvale Station in 2013, Coogler’s career as a director has been defined by the tight group of people who he's continued to work with—regardless of budget, scale or genre.
Fruitvale was the second feature for composer Ludwig Görenson, who Coogler met in university and has worked with on every feature since. Görenson won his first Oscar for Black Panther in 2019 and has since become perhaps the defining composer of the decade—he won again with Oppenheimer and looks a good bet to make it three for The Odyssey next year.
Black Panther 3 will also likely see Coogler reunite with the cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw (another Oscar winner for Sinners) as well as his long time production designer Hannah Beachler (who won for Black Panther), the legendary costume designer Ruth E. Carter (who could make it three Oscars for Panther movies in a row with this one), and his longtime editor Michael Shawver (who got his first nomination for Sinners this year).
With that incredible wealth of talent, experience and creative cohesion, there’s no reason why Black Panther 3 can’t reach the same dizzying heights as Coogler's previous movies.
3. Ryan Coogler Will Shoot on Large Format Film
For anyone interested in the cinematic experience, the news that Black Panther 3 is being shot on film should be music to your ears. Not since Captain America: The First Avenger (which was released in 2012, just before mainstream Hollywood went fully digital) has an MCU movie been shot on celluloid, let alone the “large format” stock that Coogler has promised for his upcoming feature.
This news will also be pleasing to anyone who left The Odyssey in a euphoric mood only to chuck on the new Avengers: Doomsday trailer and be brought crashing back to digitally rendered earth. Aesthetically, Coogler’s MCU movies have always looked a good few cuts above the rest. After a tough few years for Marvel Studios, the idea of a Coogler Panther movie with the visual depth of the IMAX scenes in Sinners is genuinely something to be excited about.
4. A Potential Jump to the Future
As we mentioned above, unless Dr Strange comes around to do some time travel tomfoolery, Black Panther 3 will be a significant changing of the guard. We know this because Jonsson has been announced to play T’Challa’s son—who, if we’re not mistaken, was a small child as recently as four years ago in Wakanda Forever.
The 32-year-old actor will thus have to come into the movie at least a couple of decades in the future. Seeing as Jonsson has already been announced as the star, they will hardly hold him back until the third act, or thereabouts.
That said, it’s really anyone’s guess as to what state the world (and specifically Earth 616) will be in by the end of Doomsday—let alone the end of Secret Wars. There is, of course, the possibility that Jonsson's Panther will come from another universe, but given the untouchable legacy that Chadwick Boseman left in the role, I can’t see Coogler messing around with those kinds of things.
5. A Heavyweight December Release Date
It might not look so exciting on paper, but a December release date for Marvel is nothing to be sniffed at. This essentially elevates Black Panther 3 into a category of blockbuster that believes itself worthy of a different kind of recognition.
When I think of December blockbusters, I think of meaty movies like Lord of the Rings, Avatar and Dune. For MCU movies, aside from the upcoming Doomsday and Secret Wars, only Spider-Man: No Way Home has received a December release.
By the looks of things, Kevin Feige is putting a lot of his eggs in one basket for this one, and I don't blame him for it. 2028 can’t come soon enough.
