David Jonsson To Play T’Challa’s Grown Son In ‘Black Panther 3’; Pic Hits Theaters In December 2028 – Comic-Con
Today at San Diego Comic-Con, director Ryan Coogler took the stage to announce that not only is Black Panther 3 hitting theaters on December 15, 2028, but David Jonsson will play T’Challa’s grown son who was introduced at the end of Wakanda Forever.
T’Challa comes of age in the new movie with eyes on the crown of Wakanda. Coogler also revealed on stage that BP3 will be shot entirely on larger format celluloid film — a first for the MCU.
Related Stories
Denzel Washington also is in the cast as previously announced.
The first Black Panther in 2018 grossed $1.3 billion and won three Oscars. The pic launched Chadwick Boseman as a star in the role of T’Challa, the leader of Wakanda and a global superhero. Boseman died of cancer in August 2020. Wakanda Forever, the Black Panther sequel, played out the events of T’Challa’s death. That 2022 film went on to $859M and won an Oscar for Ruth E. Carter’s Costume Design, making her the first Black woman to win two Academy Awards.
RELATED: The 62 Movies That Have Made More Than $1 Billion At The Global Box Office
Two of Jonsson’s recent films — last year’s The Long Walk, directed by Francis Lawrence and 2024’s Alien: Romulus from Fede Álvarez — had Hall H presentations, keeping the star in the orbit of San Diego’s Convention Center. Coogler introduced Jonsson with mention of The Long Walk, in which the actor starred alongside Cooper Hoffman. In the film based on the book by Stephen King, the two young men portray characters who forge an unlikely friendship in, quite literally, a walk to the death.
Black Panther cast members Letitia Wright and Winston Duke also joined Coogler, Feige and Jonsson onstage. Jonsson’s character, Toussaint, aka T’Challa II, was introduced by Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever post-credits scene. Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” then played as the credits rolled.
Duke later told Deadline that he had just spoken with Jonsson for the first time earlier that day.
“I wanted to extend to him the grace that was extended to me. Black Panther was my very first film, and I was invited to create something really cool with a lot of grace, with a lot of safety. I wanted to just let him know that we’re here to support, we’re here to help, we’re here to augment, we’re here to be here for him and for him to do his best work,” the actor, who plays M’Baku in the films.
Jonsson also appeared as Gus Sackey in HBO’s Industry and played Dom in Rye Lane (2023).