The most emotional reveal of Marvel’s SDCC 2026 Hall H panel was not a trailer. It was a casting. Black Panther 3 is officially coming in December 2028, Ryan Coogler is back to direct, and David Jonsson will play the grown son of T’Challa and Nakia – the boy the mid-credits scene of Wakanda Forever introduced four years ago.
Who David Jonsson is playing
If you need the refresher: Wakanda Forever ended with Nakia revealing to Shuri that she and T’Challa had a son, raised quietly in Haiti, away from the throne. He gave his Haitian name as Toussaint – and then his Wakandan name: Prince T’Challa. Per Variety and Deadline, the third film jumps forward to find that prince grown, coming of age, and reckoning with his father’s mantle and Wakanda’s crown.
Jonsson is the breakout British actor of the last few years: the scene-stealing android Andy in Alien: Romulus and the heart of the beloved Rye Lane. He joined Coogler, Letitia Wright, and Winston Duke on the Hall H stage, and per the panel, the film shoots large-format on celluloid – Coogler going full cinema on this one.
What this means for Shuri
The fascinating tension: Letitia Wright’s Shuri IS the Black Panther, and she was on that stage. A grown Prince T’Challa with a claim to the mantle sets up exactly the kind of generational story Coogler loves – not a villain problem, a family problem. Whether the film ends with one Panther or two is now the most interesting question in the franchise.
The Boseman legacy
There is no way around the emotional weight here. Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa was left unrecast out of respect, and Wakanda Forever was built around that loss. Casting his character’s son – rather than recasting the man – is Marvel threading the needle it has been circling since 2020: the story continues, the legacy stays his, and a new actor inherits the name without inheriting the role. Expect this to be the defining conversation around the film all the way to December 2028.
What we still do not know
No title, no plot details, no villain, and no confirmation of how large the time jump is. With no Secret Wars segment at the panel, it is also unclear whether Black Panther 3 lands before or after whatever the multiverse leaves behind. D23 in August is the next likely info drop.
Grown Prince T’Challa taking the mantle: perfect continuation or too soon? The comments are open – and the rest of the Hall H announcements are in our full recap.
Sources: Variety, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, TheWrap.
Letitia Wright photo by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0. Featured image (c) lazybatman.com.
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