Damson Idris was asked about the persistent rumor that he has been cast as the MCU's new Black Panther last night while being interviewed on the red carpet of the Golden Globes, and while he wasn't about to confirm anything, the fact that he didn't outright deny it, either, could be very telling.
“I am thankful to the fans. Of course it's rumors, but I love that movie. I love the world.”
Last October, Angela Bassett (Queen Ramonda) and Danai Gurira (Okoye) suited-up and stepped out on the catwalk to pay tribute to their characters during Vogue World: Hollywood, and Idris was photographed walking hand-in-hand with Bassett, reigniting speculation that he may be set to play a new take on T'Challa.
The report that Marvel Studios' may be searching for an actor to take over from the late Chadwick Boseman as a new take on T'Challa in the MCU led to several names being churned out by the rumor mill, including Idris. The up-and-coming British Snowfall star and F1: The Movie star was said to be one of the actors who passed on the opportunity to play T'Challa, and was asked about the rumor on social media shortly after.
Idris jokingly responded (though not everyone picked up on the sarcasm) that he also "turned down 007, A co-lead film with Daniel Day Lewis and an Eddie Murphy biopic."
However, it seems there may have been at least some truth to the rumor.
During a recent appearance on Today (via EW), Idris was asked to participate in a game in which he could only give a "yes" or "no" answer to a series of questions.
“There’s some speculation out there in the universe that you could be cast as the next Black Panther,” said co-anchor Craig Melvin. “Have you had any conversations about that? Yes or no?”
Idris let out a groan, before responding: “Yes-no!”
Though the actor declined to elaborate, he didn't hesitate with a "yes" when asked if he'd agree to play the part if given the opportunity.
Although the initial rumor suggested that Kevin Feige and co. were searching for a new actor to play a variant of the same character Boseman portrayed, it seems more likely that the studio is actually in the process of casting an actor for the role of the original T'Challa's son (Toussaint, aka Prince T'Challa), who was introduced at the end of Wakanda Forever.
Whoever ends up accepting the role, the new T'Challa is expected to debut in one of the upcoming Avengers movies before going on to play a bigger part in Black Panther 3.
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars were recently hit with significant delays, with Doomsday now set to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026, and Secret Wars positioned for December 17, 2027.
Both movies will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
"Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves”, said The Russos in a statement after the SDCC panel.
Doomsday will star:
Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Lewis Pullman as Sentry, Florence Pugh as Yelena, Danny Ramirez as Falcon, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Sebastian Stan as Bucky, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, James Marsden as Cyclops, Channing Tatum as Gambit, and Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent
Along with Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Letitia Wright as Black Panther, Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, and, of course, Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom.