Ryan Coogler identified David Jonsson as his choice for the next Black Panther before Marvel had even begun a formal casting search, according to Kevin Feige, who revealed the story to Empire magazine on 26 July 2026.

Feige told Empire that Coogler held a secret meeting with Jonsson in a hotel to discuss the role — the kind of conversation that normally happens inside studio walls, handled instead between director and actor, off the grid. When Coogler later told Feige who he wanted, the Marvel Studios president said he "got chills" and became emotional. The secret held for roughly five to six months.

Jonsson will play Prince T'Challa II, the son of T'Challa, in Black Panther 3. The casting was announced publicly during Marvel's Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2026, where Jonsson and Coogler appeared on stage together (Marvel.com). Letitia Wright and Winston Duke are returning as original cast members (Variety).

Black Panther 3 is scheduled for theatrical release on 15 December 2028.

Jonsson has been rising fast. The London-born actor drew attention for his performance in the 2024 alien horror Alien: Romulus and the HBO drama Industry, building a résumé that bridges studio genre and prestige television. For Marvel, the casting continues a pattern of handing franchise-defining roles to performers who arrive with serious dramatic credentials rather than established marquee names — the same calculation that once pointed toward unknowns for key phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

For fans, the five-month silence between decision and announcement is the detail that lands hardest. In an era where casting leaks routinely surface within days of a deal closing, keeping a new Black Panther under wraps for half a year is a feat of operational discipline. It also means that by the time Jonsson walked onto the Hall H stage, the decision was already old news to the two people who mattered most — the director who chose him and the studio chief who said yes.