It was back in February when we first learned of Marvel Studios' supposed plans to recast T'Challa following Chadwick Boseman's death in 2020.
The same rumour has repeatedly cropped up, and the consensus is that Toussaint/T'Challa II, the hero's son, will be aged up and take his father's place (we'd bet on him being plucked from a future timeline).
Leaked concept art from Avengers: Doomsday showed a version of T'Challa with F1: The Movie star Damson Idris' likeness. The Russo Brothers have claimed that the leak wasn't representative of the movie they're making, leaving us to wonder whether the new Black Panther's introduction could be saved for Black Panther 3.
Well, scooper Daniel Richtman has shared an update today, claiming that, "There will be another male Black Panther in Avengers: Doomsday."
He didn't provide any additional context, but it now seems safe to assume that Marvel Studios is indeed forging ahead with plans to introduce a new Black Panther, despite Letitia Wright's Shuri being lined up for a lead role in the ensemble.
If Marvel Studios is following the comic books, then we can expect Avengers: Secret Wars to end with the creation of a new MCU that's made up of multiple realities. That would make it easier for Marvel Studios to bring this new Black Panther into the present day without any overly complicated explanations.
"The truth is, there’s no truth to those rumors," Black Panther 3 producer Nate Moore claimed earlier this year, explaining that, at the time, Marvel Studios hadn't "really had a lot of creative conversations with Ryan Coogler" due to him being busy with Sinners.
"We’ll get into it later this year, but everything you read online is not true, if for no other reason than we just haven’t started [working on it]."
"We are still figuring out again exactly what [the next] Avengers is going to be, so we haven't had any real story conversations. I know there's been a lot of chatter online about casting and villains. None of that's true," he continued. "We just haven't gotten there yet, to be honest, but I am very excited to start those conversations hopefully this year."
"We don't know what the story is, so I couldn't tell you whether or not we're open to recasting. It certainly wasn't our instinct for Wakanda Forever. I'll never say never to anything, but it's too early to talk about any of that stuff. We have to figure out what the story's going to be," Moore concluded.
Here's another look at the Avengers: Doomsday (or Secret Wars) concept art that leaked online in March:
Avengers: Doomsday officially stars Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Winston Duke, Tom Hiddleston, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, and Robert Downey Jr. Wyatt Russell, Simu Liu, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Florence Pugh, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, and Lewis Pullman all make their Avengers franchise debuts in the movie.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps leads Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn join them, as do X-Men franchise stars Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, with Deadpool & Wolverine star Channing Tatum.
Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, and Ryan Reynolds are also set to appear, according to reports from the trades. Many actors are similarly rumoured to show up, including Tobey Maguire, Hugh Jackman, Brie Larson, Elizabeth Olsen, and countless others.
The Russo Brothers direct the movie from a screenplay by Stephen McFeely, with whom they previously collaborated on the Avengers and Captain America franchises. Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness's Michael Waldron is also working on the script.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18, 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive on December 17, 2027.