Marvel Studios prides itself on secrecy. They do everything that they can to protect reveals from their upcoming Marvel movies, but there’s only so much they can control. Usually, it’s an actor who gives away precious details, like the time that Tom Holland blabbed some major details about the Spider-Man franchise, and his work on the upcoming Avengers films. And then there are the rare occasions when a major A-lister drops a Marvel morsel without realizing that it’s news, and I was curious what happened at Marvel Studios after something like that occurred.
While working the press circuit on behalf of Gladiator 2, Denzel Washington let it be known that he was going to be part of Ryan Coogler’s planned Black Panther 3. The iconic Training Day actor didn’t realize that he was breaking the Internet in the process, mainly because Black Panther 3 is so far out, few of us imagined he’d be in it, let alone who he might possibly play. Well, the Internet did what the Internet does: It overreacted. But what did Marvel do? I had the chance to sit down with Marvel Studios produce Nate Moore as he promoted Captain America: Brave New World, and when I asked him how they reacted to Denzel’s truth bomb, Moore told CinemaBlend:
It's a phone call from Ryan Cougar saying, ‘Did you see what he said??’ (Laughs) No, but it's fun. Look, again, I think it speaks to Denzel's enthusiasm, which is great. We're so early days there, because Ryan has been finishing Sinners, his film, which is going to come out in May, which is going to be super exciting. And so it's a little cart-before-the-horse, because we don't really know what that movie is. But again, I think it speaks to both Denzel's passion, I think our fans' passion, to pick up on that story and go, ‘Oh, I can't wait!’ And it kicked off a lot of speculation about what that movie is going be – none of which is correct, but that's fine. The energy's there. Now it's on us to build a great movie. But man, the fans are excited, and that's a good place to start from.
It certainly is. There are a lot of questions that Marvel needs to answer about Black Panther 3, starting with, “Who will be the movie’s Black Panther?” In the sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Letitia Wright’s character Shuri stepped up to assume the mantle. But at the end of Wakanda Forever, it was revealed that T’Challa and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) had a son, so it’s possible that he will graduate to becoming the next Black Panther.
The issue is time. As of right now, there is no Black Panther 3 on the MCU schedule, though Marvel is planning the animated Eyes of Wakanda, a series that could push most of these narratives forward. And there are other movies that have been announced (cough cough, Blade, cough cough) that probably should move forward before Black Panther 3 takes shape. But if Denzel Washington is saying that he has a role, then there have to have been some conversations with Marvel about the direction of a project, so maybe we’ll hear details soon.
The rest of 2025 includes two other Marvel movies, including Thunderbolts and The Fantastic Four, so keep it here for up to the minute coverage.
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