Wakanda’s Future Revealed: David Jonsson Cast as T’Challa’s Son in Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther 3”
Marvel was present at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con in a major way. One major piece of news emerged during the studio’s Hall H presentation on Saturday, when Kevin Feige and director Ryan Coogler revealed that Black Panther 3 will feature David Jonsson as the adult son of T’Challa, the iconic character played by the late Chadwick Boseman. The duo also revealed that Coogler is filming the epic in 70mm, and that it’ll arrive in theaters on December 15, 2028.
“Thank you to this amazing family that I have the honor and privilege and the blessing to join,” said Jonsson during the presentation, to the delighted cheers of the audience.
We learned about T’Challa’s son at the end of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, when Shuri (Letitia Wright) visited Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and found that she’d been raising her and T’Challa’s son in secret, having taken him out of Wakanda for fear for his life. Nakia named him T’Challa, in honor of his father. Whether or not Jonsson will appear in Avengers: Doomsday is anyone’s guess, but given that Marvel is not afraid to play with timelines, time jumps, and multiversal time merges, it’s possible he has a role. As things stand, Black Panther 3 is slated to arrive after Avengers: Secret Wars.
Jonsson was a big player in the first two seasons of HBO’s terrific series Industry, and was also featured in major roles in Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus and Francis Lawrence’s The Long Walk.
The first Black Panther arrived in 2018 and was an immediate global sensation, cementing Coogler’s status as one of the most ambitious and capable directors of his generation and further elevating Chadwick Boseman as a star. There was also that sensational cast, which along with Nyong’o and Wright included Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, and a riveting Michael B. Jordan as the villain, Killmonger. Black Panther was a critical and commercial hit, eventually earning $1.3 billion at the global box office, and became the first superhero film to nab an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrived in 2022 on a swell of heartbreak after the shocking death of Boseman, who passed in August of 2020 after a private battle with colon cancer. Coogler rewrote much of the sequel’s script, which pivoted to focus on Shuri’s failed attempt to save her brother, T’Challa (in the very opening minutes), and her eventual taking up the mantle of Black Panther following his death. The sequel was another critical and commercial smash, earning $850 million at the worldwide box office and securing five Oscar nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Angela Bassett, making her the first performer to earn that distinction for a performance in a Marvel movie.
Check out the moment Jonsson was announced as the new Black Panther here:
Ryan Coogler introduces the new #BlackPanther, David Jonsson.
Black Panther 3 arrives in theaters December 15, 2028. #SDCC pic.twitter.com/npOXtW76UW
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) July 26, 2026
Featured image: SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 25: (L-R) Letitia Wright, Ryan Coogler, David Jonsson and Winston Duke attend the Marvel Studios Panel at 2026 San Diego Comic-Con on July 25, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
