Key Takeaways
- Kevin Feige said Ryan Coogler’s confidence in David Jonsson influenced Marvel’s decision following their meeting.
- Jonsson will portray the adult son of T’Challa and Nakia in Black Panther III, a character first introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
- Marvel kept the casting decision private for months before announcing Jonsson during its Comic-Con Hall H presentation.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige revealed that Ryan Coogler’s certainty about David Jonsson made the decision to cast the franchise’s next Black Panther an emotional one.
In a post-San Diego Comic-Con interview with Empire, Feige said Marvel wasn't yet searching for the actor who would inherit the role at the time. The studio expected to start that process with Coogler after the awards campaign for Sinners, the filmmaker’s latest project, concluded.
Before those discussions began, however, Coogler contacted Feige: "He called me and said, ‘I found him.'" The director identified Jonsson, encouraged Feige to watch more of his work and arranged a private hotel meeting with the British actor. The studio executive recalled Coogler calling him afterward to declare, "'He’s the guy... I felt it in my soul.'"
Coogler then described Jonsson as a “good man” and the person who should become the next Black Panther. Feige said the moment gave him chills and left him emotional before he approved the casting. According to the Marvel boss, the studio kept the decision secret for roughly five or six months.
Marvel formally introduced Jonsson during its Hall H presentation at Comic-Con. Coogler confirmed that the actor will portray the adult son of T’Challa (played by the late Chadwick Boseman) and Lupita Nyong'o's Nakia, whose existence was revealed at the end of 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The character was introduced as Toussaint before sharing that his Wakandan name was also T’Challa.
Coogler told the audience that the young prince “grows up” and “comes of age” in the third film. Jonsson joined Coogler, Feige, Letitia Wright, and Winston Duke onstage, thanking the franchise’s cast and creative team while declining to disclose details about his performance.
What David Jonsson worked on before becoming the next Black Panther
Jonsson is known for "Industry," Rye Lane, Alien: Romulus, and The Long Walk. He received the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2025, an honor voted on by the public.
Black Panther III will mark Coogler’s third MCU franchise movie. Marvel set the sequel for release in theaters on Dec. 15, 2028, but has not disclosed further plot details or explained how the story will advance T’Challa and Nakia's son into adulthood.