Black Panther 3 is on the way, and it's been widely reported that the movie will kick off the post-Avengers: Secret Wars MCU in February 2028.
A mixture of rumours and even some leaked concept art from the next Avengers movies (it remains unclear whether it was for Doomsday, Secret Wars or perhaps previous versions of both titles) has pointed to Marvel Studios reintroducing T'Challa.
Chadwick Boseman died in 2020 following a hard-fought battle with cancer. The actor's passing sent shockwaves through Hollywood, forcing Marvel Studios to go back to the drawing board with its planned Black Panther sequel. Shuri took over from T'Challa in 2021's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, though original plans for the movie were much different.
The idea had been for it to deal with the fallout from Avengers: Endgame, with T'Challa returning from the "Blip" to learn his son had been born while he was among the dead. From there, we'd have followed the hero getting to know his child while likely battling Namor the Submariner.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever instead dealt with the fallout from the hero's demise in-universe and followed Shuri as she inherited the Black Panther mantle. The closing moments of the sequel introduced Toussaint, a.k.a. T'Challa II, the fallen King's young son, and a natural successor to his father's crown.
With all that to take into account, fans are understandably eager to learn what comes next for the MCU's Black Panther. Now, a possible title for the next movie is doing the rounds on social media after being published by Production List.
According to the site, Black Panther 3 will be titled Black Panther: Shadows of Wakanda. Sounds pretty cool, right? Well, while there's always a chance that this report is accurate, Production List typically compiles from Facebook posts and YouTube, and "Shadows of Wakanda" has been talked about by fans on both platforms.
With that in mind, we don't expect the highly anticipated threequel to ultimately be titled Black Panther: Shadows of Wakanda. Marvel Studios may not have even settled on a title at this early stage, though we do know that the script is currently being written.
Black Panther was released in 2018 to widespread critical acclaim and a massive $1.3 billion worldwide. The sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, grossed $859 million worldwide in 2022 and was similarly considered a success in the post-COVID landscape for superhero movies.
Denzel Washington is expected to join the cast, while Ryan Coogler will return to direct. F1: The Movie star Damson Idris is rumoured to be the new T'Challa. A release date hasn't been officially announced, but Black Panther 3 would be a fitting choice of movie to usher in a new era of storytelling in the post-Secret Wars MCU.