All you need to know about a potential Black Panther 3 (2024)

Black Panther 3 still hasn't technically been confirmed by Marvel, but it's looking like a sure thing for a few reasons.

Firstly, and to some most importantly, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever made $737 million at the box office as of December 2022, a haul big enough to consider a follow-up. Secondly, the sequel ends with a title card that says "Black Panther will return".

Like with the end of Thor: Love and Thunder, that could mean in other MCU projects, but we have a feeling a third movie is going to happen. Before the sequel's release, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige confirmed to Variety that there had already been "conversations" about a threequel.

In January 2023, Shuri star Letitia Wright told Variety she thought "it's already in the works... It's gonna take a while, but really excited for you guys to see that." The sequel leaves plenty to explore in a potential third movie, so while we wait for Marvel to confirm it, here's everything you need to know about Black Panther 3.

Black Panther 3 potential release date: When could we see Black Panther 3?

As mentioned above, Black Panther 3 has yet to be confirmed by Marvel Studios so we don't have an official release date. Marvel has a packed slate in the next couple of years through to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty on May 2, 2025, so it's hard to see a third movie fitting in before then unless there's some schedule changes.

There are some dates for untitled Marvel movies in 2025 and 2026 though which could be used for Black Panther 3:

• July 25, 2025
• November 7, 2025
• February 13, 2026
• July 24, 2026
• November 6, 2026

Avengers: Secret Wars is coming out on May 1, 2026 to wrap up The Multiverse Saga – so it might depend on whether a third movie fits into that saga, or ends up as part of Phase 7 in a brand-new saga.

Watch this space and hopefully, we'll get a definitive release date when Black Panther 3 is confirmed by Marvel.

Black Panther 3 cast: Who's coming back for Black Panther 3?

Since it's not been officially confirmed, there are no announced returns yet for Black Panther 3, but we can make some guesses based on the events of Wakanda Forever.

We need to go into some major spoilers though, so look away now if you haven't seen the movie yet.

One notable absence for the third movie will be Angela Bassett's Ramonda as she sacrifices herself to save the life of Riri Williams when Namor attacks Wakanda in devastating fashion.

We knew beforehand that T'Challa was going to be killed off and not recast for the MCU, so Ramonda is the surprise casualty of the sequel. Bassett has admitted she "objected" to Ramonda's death when she was first told.

However, she revealed that Ryan Coogler assured her that it doesn't rule out future appearances: "He was like, 'Angela, I know, I know, but look, to die is not really to die in this world. It doesn't really have to mean that.'"

Everybody else survives, so expect to see the return of Letitia Wright's Shuri (now the new Black Panther), Lupita Nyong'o's Nakia, Danai Gurira's Okoye, Winston Duke's M'Baku, Florence Kasumba's Ayo and Michaela Coel's Aneka.

The emotional credit scene reveals that Nakia and T'Challa had a son before the Snap called Toussaint, played by newcomer Divine Love Konadu-Sun, who tells Shuri that his name is Prince T'Challa.

Expect to see more of Prince T'Challa in the third movie, but we could be in for a time jump and a recast for the character.

Dominique Thorne's Riri Williams now has her own Ironheart show to feature in, so it's not clear whether she'll be back in Wakanda for the threequel. The same goes for Martin Freeman's Everett Ross, who will pop up on Secret Invasion.

Tenoch Huerta's Namor definitely has a big MCU future ahead of him, along with Mabel Cadena's Namora, but we don't yet know if they'll feature in a third Black Panther movie or something else altogether.

Talking to Digital Spy, Huerta addressed the potential for a solo Namor movie in the MCU's future. "I would like it but I don't know," he shared. "It depends on what Kevin Feige says he wants."

Michael B Jordan made a surprise return as Killmonger when Shuri visited the ancestral plane after taking the Heart-Shaped Herb. He's still definitely dead so future appearances seem unlikely, but there's always the multiverse...

It's also a potential way for Angela Bassett to reprise her role as Ramonda when we return to Wakanda, either on the ancestral plane or a different version from across the multiverse. You can't rule anything out with the MCU.

Black Panther 3 plot: How does Black Panther 2 ending set it up?

With the MCU's interconnected storylines, it's hard to know whether Wakanda Forever is setting up a third movie or other MCU projects, but here's where we stand at the end of the sequel.

Wakanda Forever saw our heroes deal with the passing of T'Challa, following the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman in August 2020, while a major new threat arrived in the MCU with Namor and the civilisation of Talokan.

Shuri is now the Black Panther and has been introduced to T'Challa's son when she visits Nakia in Haiti to say goodbye to T'Challa by burning her funeral attire. Nakia had offered Shuri to stay in Haiti, but she knows Wakanda needs her.

While this is happening, Shuri misses the coronation ceremony in Wakanda and it appears that M'Baku makes a challenge for the throne. However, it's not clear if he means this genuinely or he's just being a jester.

Wakanda and Talokan are at peace by the end of Wakanda Forever, thanks to Shuri choosing to spare Namor's life. He believes that the surface world will come for Wakanda though and then they'll turn to Talokan for protection.

It certainly appears as though the MCU is gearing up for a Wakanda vs USA battle, with the US government blaming Wakanda for the attack on their ship searching for Vibranium in the ocean at the start of the movie.

Valentina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) looks to be orchestrating the conflict in order to get access to Vibranium, and she arrests Ross when she discovers he was working in secret with the Wakandans.

Luckily for Ross, he's broken out of a prison transport by Okoye at the end of the movie. It's possible that this conflict comes to a head in a different MCU project, rather than in Black Panther 3 though.

If you're hoping that the stars know what will happen in the third movie, they're just as in the dark as the rest of us.

"There's really no way of telling where this franchise is going, because there's a million twists, there's a million turns. Every character evolves and changes radically differently along the way," Duke told Digital Spy.

"So where Nakia is by the end of the movie, you have no idea what's going to happen. You have no idea what's going to happen with M'Baku. You don't know what's going to happen with Shuri or anybody. You have no idea."

Black Panther 3 trailer: Any Black Panther 3 footage yet?

Unfortunately, you'll be waiting a while as filming hasn't started on Black Panther 3 yet, unless Marvel has been filming it in secret, which is highly unlikely.

Marvel typically only releases the first trailer for its movies three months ahead of release, so it's going to be a long wait.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in cinemas now, while Black Panther is available to watch on Disney+.