Ryan Coogler walked out at Comic-Con on Saturday and essentially told the entire MCU fanbase to calm down because he has this handled. He announced that Black Panther 3 is coming December 15, 2028, will be shot on 70mm film, and that the new Black Panther is David Jonsson. The crowd lost it. Honestly, so did I.
If you haven't seen Alien: Romulus yet, stop reading and go fix that first. Jonsson plays Andy, a synthetic android who is simultaneously the most human and most quietly terrifying presence in the film. The performance ricochets between warm and unsettling in a way that most actors can't pull off once, let alone across an entire movie. Critics called it a star-making role, and they weren't wrong. He was the best thing in that film by a comfortable distance.
The setup for Black Panther 3 is genuinely interesting. Wakanda Forever ended with the reveal that Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa had a young son with Nakia, played by Lupita Nyong'o. Jonsson will play that son, now grown, stepping into the mantle his father made legendary. Letitia Wright and Winston Duke are both returning, and Denzel Washington is making his MCU debut. Coogler, who just won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Sinners, is writing and directing his third chapter in a franchise he built from the ground up. The man is not coasting.
The 70mm decision is worth paying attention to. No Marvel Studios film has ever been shot on large-format celluloid, and Coogler already proved what that format can do with Sinners. Choosing to bring that same visual texture to Wakanda feels intentional in a way that goes beyond aesthetics. It's a statement that this movie is meant to sit differently than your average MCU entry.
Jonsson is a London-born, RADA-trained actor of Nigerian heritage who won the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2025. He built his career quietly through Industry on HBO, the British rom-com Rye Lane, and The Long Walk before Alien: Romulus made everyone pay attention at once. Marvel casting him is the kind of swing the studio used to be known for in its early days, back when they were handing Iron Man to a not-quite-rehabilitated Robert Downey Jr. and hoping for the best. That instinct is back.
If you want to do your homework before 2028, watch Alien: Romulus for the performance, then rewatch the original Black Panther to remember just how much weight this franchise carries. Coogler knows what he's inheriting. Jonsson clearly does too.
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