Social media is buzzing over gifted British actor David Jonsson being crowned as the new Black Panther in a surprise announcement at this year’s star-studded Comic-Con in San Diego.
The special moment unfolded during Marvel’s always-epic Comic-Con panel where Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced Black Panther 3 before bringing out Ryan Coogler to thunderous applause.
According to Feige, Black Panther 1, 2 and now 3 director Ryan Coogler met with Jonsson in a “secret meeting” before quickly realizing he was the perfect fit to take up the mantle as T’Challa’s son.
“We hadn’t started a search yet,” Feige explained during an interview with Empire.
“Ryan was working on Sinners, and when Ryan works on a project he’s all in. So the presumption very much was we would sit with him after Sinners came out, after the Academy campaign. We were waiting ’til after the Academy Awards to sit with Ryan and begin that process.”
“A month and a half or so before that process, he called me and said, ‘I found him.’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He goes, ‘I found him. He’s this guy, David Jonsson,’” Feige continued.
“He mentioned his movies. I had seen some of them. I watched more. He goes, ‘I’m going to meet him.’ He had a secret meeting with him under cloak of darkness in a hotel somewhere, and called me afterwards and said, ‘He’s the guy, he’s the guy, I felt it. I felt it in my soul. He’s a good man, and he is the next Black Panther.’ And I got chills, and I got a little welled-up and said, ‘Let’s do it.’ So we’ve been sitting on this secret for a good five or six months.”
Jonsson, who made a lasting impression in Alien: Romulus and The Long Walk, radiated with a warm humility while flanked by Black Panther royalty, Letitia Wright, and Winston Duke, who welcomed him to the blockbuster franchise.
“I want to say thank you so much,” Jonsson told the electric crowd. “Thank you, Ryan. Thank you, Kevin Feige. Thank you to this amazing family that I honor. It’s a privilege and blessing to join.”
“I don’t want to say too much because I want to let the screen do the talking,” he said. “But believe me, the honor is entirely mine.”
Naturally, social media erupted with excitement over the long-awaited casting which also stirred up hilariously petty jokes aimed at Damson Idris who was seemingly the frontrunner for the role.
Whether he actually was the frontrunner to play Black Panther, we can’t confirm, but we’re sure he’ll be amazing as the star of Children Of Blood And Bone in theaters January 15, 2027.
What was your reaction to David Jonsson being crowned the new Black Panther? Do you think Damson would’ve made a good Black Panther? Tell us down below and peep the social media hysteria over the exciting announcement on the flip.