Back in November, Oscar-winning acting legend Denzel Washington discussed upcoming roles and his retirement from acting when he casually dropped a major piece of news that Black Panther director Ryan Coogler was “writing a part for me in the next Black Panther.” Since then, speculation has been rampant about the third Black Panther film, including rumors that Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa would be recast. Marvel’s VP of Production & Development and Executive Producer, Nate Moore, spoke with Screen Rant and was asked about Washington’s involvement. He also stressed just how early it is for Black Panther 3: “If that manifests, which we’re gonna try, I think it will probably be somebody from canon. Who that is, is early days. We honestly haven’t had really substantive creative conversations with Ryan, mostly because he’s finishing his film Sinners, which is gonna come out this year and is gonna be great. So again, it’s too early to say, but obviously if an actor of the caliber of Denzel Washington wants in, we’re gonna figure out a way to make that happen.”
As it turns out, Washington called and apologized to Coogler for “talking about the movie” and revealing potential spoilers. Keep in mind, the threequel is in the earliest days of development. With Coogler’s Sinners opening April 18, it’s safe to assume the writer/director will be able to start work on the Black Panther 3 screenplay by late spring or some time in the summer, assuming he hasn’t already done so. With the way development, casting, and pre-production work for a massive blockbuster film such as this, it could be another year or more before the film starts shooting. This is only speculation, but Black Panther 3 may not arrive until 2028, 10 years after the original.
Boseman played T’Challa/The Black Panther several times, from 2016 to 2019. He tragically passed away in 2020 following a four-year battle with colon cancer. It seemed that Marvel Studios would not recast the character, and the 2022 sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever had T’Challa’s sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright), taking up the mantle as Black Panther. However, a rumor came to light that Marvel Studios was planning on recasting the role of T’Challa, despite the character dying in the sequel. In fact, while fans were split over the recasting rumor, some wanted to see it happen following the recasting of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross with Harrison Ford after William Hurt died. Chadwick Boseman can never be fully replaced as the Black Panther, but that doesn’t mean this young star can’t make a legacy of his own as T’Challa.
Moore also addressed the T’Challa recasting rumor just days ago, explaining: “The truth is, there’s no truth to those rumors. Never say never to anything, we haven’t really had a lot of creative conversations with Ryan Coogler yet.” While we wait (impatiently) for Black Panther 3, there are plenty of MCU movies coming out in the next couple of years, starting with Captain America: Brave New World opening next week. Robert Downey Jr. makes his MCU return as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday in 2026 and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027.
