Two actors have emerged as the frontrunners to play a new Black Panther. There have been numerous reports and rumors suggesting that a new Black Panther will soon be crowned in the MCU.
Chadwick Boseman famously played Black Panther/T’Challa in a number of Marvel Studios projects, including 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, 2018’s Black Panther, 2019’s Avengers: Infinity War, and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. After Boseman passed away in 2020, Marvel decided to have Letitia Wright’s Shuri character take on the mantle of Black Panther in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Shuri will return in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, the former of which is being released later this year while the latter arrives in 2027. A third Black Panther movie is in development, though no release date has been set.
What is the update on the new Black Panther actor?
Online rumors have suggested that a new Black Panther will emerge in Avengers: Secret Wars. One name that keeps coming up in regard to this rumor is Damson Idris, who starred as Joshua Pearce alongside Brad Pitt in 2025’s F1.
The Cosmic Circus’ Alex Perez was recently asked about the matter. More specifically, Perez was asked if the plan for Avengers: Secret Wars is to “introduce Shuri and T’Challa’s multiversal grandfather, T-Chanda, like the leaked concept art showed.”
Perez answered, “I cannot comment on this, but I know that they’re actively looking for the next Black Panther as we speak. And there are a couple of names that have been thrown around. John David Washington and Damson Idris are some top contenders.”
This is only a rumor at this time, meaning it should be taken with a grain of salt. No official casting announcement regarding a new Black Panther in the MCU has been made.
Avengers: Doomsday is dated for December 18, 2026. Avengers: Secret Wars follows on December 17, 2027.
Originally reported by Brandon Schreur at SuperHeroHype.
