With San Diego Comic-Con behind us, things are really starting to pick up in terms of all things MCU. Not only does Spider-Man: Brand New Day hit theaters this week, but we’re getting closer to Avengers: Doomsday. There’s also the new things that we learned during Marvel’s Hall H presentation this year that’s really upping the excitement, including the announcement that David Jonsson will be the next Black Panther, playing the son of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa in Black Panther 3 when it hits theaters in 2028. Now, however, a new rumor suggests that we’ll get to see Jonsson’s hero in action before that third Black Panther film and fans are excited.
According to a new report from Daniel Richtman, Jonsson’s T’Challa II will actually make his MCU debut not in Black Panther 3 but in Avengers: Secret Wars. With Secret Wars expected in theaters on December 17, 2027, even though we don’t yet have an anticipated release date for Black Panther 3, this means that we’ll get to meet the next protector of Wakanda in a manner similar to how we met Boseman’s Black Panther. As fans may recall, fans were first introduced to T’Challa in Captain America: Civil War and his path was set when King T’Chaka was killed in a bombing at a UN conference, prompting T’Challa to vow to kill the man responsible — Bucky Barnes.
Bringing Jonsson’s T’Challa II into the MCU before his own film makes a lot of sense. With Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige having already indicated that the overall timeline of the MCU will be tightened up following Secret Wars (something that many fans feel is akin to a soft reboot), having what is essentially a next generation hero be set up in Secret Wars is something that just feels logical and a great way to segue from the current “phase” the larger MCU is in to the one that comes after. It also makes for a nice echo, if you will, of how Boseman’s T’Challa made his debut. But even beyond it making sense in terms of structure and story, fans are pretty excited about the possibility. Online, several fans have said that they “can’t wait” to see Jonsson make his debut just a little earlier thanks to Secret Wars. Another noted that the actor has “huge shoes to fill” but also was excited by cause Jonsson “is a talented actor. Can’t wait.”
Of course, fans are also hopeful that means we’ll be introduced to another new MCU addition in Secret Wars as well. Ryan Gosling was announced to be joining the MCU as Ghost Rider at SDCC as well and he is also expected to have a movie arriving in 2028. It makes a certain amount of sense for Gosling’s Ghost Rider to be introduced in Secret Wars as well. As for how such an introduction would be made, we don’t really know much about Secret Wars at this point, but some fans are already speculating we could see Ghost Rider — and maybe even T’Challa II — introduced in a post-credits scene or even near the end of the film as part of the aftermath of whatever reset the Avengers films provides.
What do you think? Should the MCU introduce Jonsson’s Black Panther before his film? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
