Following Chadwick Boseman's tragic death in 2020, Marvel Studios decided to forge ahead with its planned Black Panther sequel. Following a major rewrite, the spotlight shifted from T'Challa to Shuri in what proved to be a beautiful tribute to the late actor following his battle with cancer.
In the closing moments of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, we met T'Challa's son - also named T'Challa - and the prevailing theory among fans is that he'll eventually inherit the "Black Panther" mantle in the post-Avengers: Secret Wars MCU.
Announcing that longtime executive Nate Moore is transitioning to producing outside the MCU next year, Marvel Studios has confirmed that Black Panther 3 is officially in the works.
"Nate is a fantastic executive and colleague as well as a wonderful friend to all of us here at Marvel Studios," Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige and Louis D'Esposito told Deadline in a joint statement. "He has been a core member of our team since 2010, and his influence will continue to reverberate in our storytelling."
"Although we’ll miss him a great deal, we look forward to watching what he does next while also having the good fortune of working with him in a new way on our next Black Panther movie."
Moore joined Marvel Studios in 2010 and rose to prominence for producing Black Panther in 2018. After cutting his teeth on the Captain America franchise, he'd later earn producing credits for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Eternals, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Moore also helped develop Guardians of the Galaxy's script as part of the Marvel Writer's Program and has a producing credit on next February's Captain America: Brave New World.
"Nearly everything I know about producing I’ve learned from my time at Marvel Studios," Moore said. "I feel lucky to have worked with a group of people who love filmmaking and storytelling as much as my Marvel colleagues and the cast and crew of our films."
"But I couldn’t be more excited to apply my experience and passion for film towards theatrical movies in all genres, including returning to the world of Wakanda for Black Panther 3."
This news doesn't come as a huge surprise because Denzel Washington recently confirmed that he's been in talks with Black Panther franchise director Ryan Coogler about taking on a role in the threequel. However, this is the first time Marvel Studios has acknowledged plans for the movie.
"For me, it's about the filmmaker, especially at this point in my career," Washington said while promoting Gladiator II. "I'm only interested in working with the best. I don't know how many more films I'm going to make; probably not that many. I want to do things I haven't done...Ryan Coogler's writing a part for me in the next Black Panther."
What are you hoping to see from Black Panther 3?