For a couple of hours, Black Panther followers thought the studio had lastly completed what it swore it by no means would.
Information that British actor David Jonsson had been solid as the following Black Panther unfold throughout social media inside minutes, and many jumped straight to the plain conclusion: Marvel had recast Chadwick Boseman’s beloved King T’Challa.
Timelines lit up with followers arguing over whether or not sufficient time had handed since Boseman’s 2020 demise, and whether or not the franchise ought to have changed his signature function in any respect.
Ryan Coogler introduces the brand new #BlackPanther, David Jonsson.
Black Panther 3 arrives in theaters December 15, 2028. #SDCC pic.twitter.com/npOXtW76UW
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) July 26, 2026
That’s not what’s taking place.
Jonsson isn’t getting into Boseman’s model of T’Challa. He’s enjoying the son T’Challa by no means obtained to satisfy, the kid launched within the closing moments of “Black Panther: Wakanda Eternally.”
The reveal got here Saturday evening at San Diego Comedian-Con, the place Ryan Coogler took the stage alongside Letitia Wright, Winston Duke and Kevin Feige to verify “Black Panther 3” for Dec. 15, 2028.
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The confusion confirmed up virtually immediately on-line.
“No person can exchange Chadwick,” one fan tweeted. One other wrote, “Kudos to him however he received’t be like the primary black panther.”
One X pushed again a bit of more durable, admitting, “Ought to’ve by no means killed him off within the first place! All yall needed to do is simply recast T’ Challa,” whereas a unique commenter took the other view: “You already know as a marvel fan regardless of the passing of Chadwick the brand new blackpanther actor does okay because the Blackpanther film is considered one of my favourite marvel film within the MCU.”
One other tweet learn, “Coogler has earned sufficient belief from me to let him prepare dinner,” and another fan struck a center floor: “I’ll miss Chadwick ceaselessly, however I’m keen to offer him a good shot. Ryan Coogler hasn’t actually given me a motive to doubt him but.”
Deadline’s remark part had its personal theories. “Within the comics, Shuri turned Black Panther after T’Challa was left in a coma resulting from a sneak assault by Physician Doom. After T’Challa recovered, Shuri let him reclaim the Panther mantle,” one reader wrote, including, “Black Panther 3 may observe the identical fundamental story besides that Shuri would get replaced by her nephew, T’Challa II.” One other commenter on the outlet merely wrote, “Two-Challa.”
A 3rd provided a comparability to a unique franchise reboot fully: “NOT the primary actor to come back to thoughts to exchange T’Challa, however based mostly partly on each his background and former accolades, I’m getting a ‘Michael Keaton as Batman’ vibes from this child.”
Over at Individuals, one fan wrote, “Ought to have been a one-and-done, sufficient of the sequels, prequels, reboots and origin tales.”
The excellence followers have been sorting by means of issues.
After Boseman died in August 2020 following a battle with colon most cancers, Marvel made the unprecedented name to not recast T’Challa. As a substitute, Coogler rewrote “Wakanda Eternally” round grief.
He additionally handed the Black Panther mantle to Shuri, performed by Wright, whereas Nakia revealed within the movie’s ultimate scene that she and T’Challa had secretly had a son, named Toussaint, whose Wakandan title honors his father — which is why followers name him T’Challa II. “The final time we obtained to make a film, we launched a personality who’s the son of the character that the nice Chadwick Boseman performed, our T’Challa,” Coogler instructed the Corridor H crowd. “And right this moment, I wish to let you know that on this subsequent movie he grows up, he comes of age.”
Jonsson, 32, appeared visibly moved as he addressed the viewers.
“Thanks a lot,” he mentioned, in accordance with Marvel. “Thanks Ryan, thanks Kevin, thanks to this wonderful household that I’ve the consideration and the privilege and the blessing to affix. I don’t wish to say an excessive amount of, as a result of I wish to let the display do the speaking. However consider me, the consideration is fully mine.”
Duke, who performs M’Baku, instructed Deadline he’d solely simply met Jonsson that day and wished to pay ahead the welcome he acquired on his personal first Marvel movie.
“I wished to increase to him the grace that was prolonged to me,” he mentioned. “I wished to only let him know that we’re right here to help, we’re right here to assist, we’re right here to enhance, we’re right here to be right here for him and for him to do his greatest work.”
Wright teased that she plans to have “a very good time” needling her new on-screen nephew all through manufacturing.
So why the confusion within the first place? Easy.
Quite a lot of the early headlines introduced a “new Black Panther” with out clarifying which character Jonsson was getting into. Black Panther is a title, not an individual, one which’s handed from T’Challa to Shuri within the comics and now, apparently, to the following technology on display. Conflating the mantle with the person was a straightforward mistake in a brief headline.
For now, the largest twist isn’t that Marvel discovered its subsequent Black Panther. It’s that the actor sporting the go well with isn’t changing Chadwick Boseman in any respect — he’s persevering with the story Boseman’s king left behind.
