BLACK PANTHER 3: WHAT TO EXPECT

It's been a few weeks since the unexpected reveal of the new Black Panther at SDCC and I think it's time that we take a closer look into this film. Now we know that David Jonsson aka T'Challa, Jr. or T'Challa II will be in this film, but what else do we know? Clearly it's on the other side of Doomsday and Secret Wars with a release date of December 2028, and pretty much the same cast is returning. There have been rumors of other characters showing up, maybe even a goddess of sorts. Well here at The C.A.G.E., we go head first into these rumors and provide context to flesh these rumors out a bit for you. So, let's get started.

David Jonsson

Black Panther 3 will start production late this year or early next year, which makes sense with a target date of December 2028. Marvel has basically put the ball in Ryan Coogler's court and they are going to let him have his fun so to speak. You can expect Coogler to incorporate some of the elements he learned from his time working on Sinner in this film. There will be a psychological element here, a thriller if you will, and a supernatural/horror aspect that will be explored. I did mention Sinners, didn't I? We will spend some time in the Ancestral Plane again, but more than we did in Wakanda Forever. We will further explore the lore of Wakanda. I want you to remember, "Death is not the end." To that point, we may see Queen Ramonda again. But wait, there's more! We will be returning to Taloka, which means MORE NAMOR. Keep in mind, this film comes after Doomsday and Secret Wars, and we may see Namor bow down to someone else in order to keep his nation safe, and I'm not talking about Shuri. But you can bet Shuri and the nation of Taloka will be paying very close attention. That alliance between the two nations is shaky AT BEST.

STORM. That's the big one right? The crew here have been talking about Storm specifically showing up in this film for a few years now. Originally, Storm was going to debut in Black Panther 2, but the passing of Chadwick Boseman forced Marvel to pivot from that particular story, which also would have seen Doom debut in the post credit scene. The Wakanda vs Taloka plot was more or less always the idea, with Doom being the one pulling the strings, orchestrating the conflict for his own gains. We obviously did not get Storm or Doom in the second film but the Storm thread remains the same for her in BP3. Now I know exactly what you're thinking: "Are they going to do the marriage arc?" It has been discussed, though if it happens, it won't come to fruition fully in this film alone. After all, we will be just meeting her. The general idea is to give us another mutant on screen in related to the X-Men as we saw in Spider-Man Brand New Day. We already have a mutant in the story as Namor was confirmed to be one in the sequel. That gives us two, but there may be more than just those two. It is worth mentioning here that at the time of this writing, we are set to get the official announcement of the X-Men movie and cast at D23. It is uncertain if they will announce Storm as things are still pretty fluid with a couple names in the hat, with Jayme Lawson seemingly leading the way. The X-Men movie starts production this fall, which is why the casting announcement is imminent. That also gives a little more credence to the rumors of Storm showing up in this film, with assumption that the X-Men film will release in 2028 as well. As we say, "Follow the breadcrumbs." The mutants are here.

DENZEL WASHINGTON. That one may be the biggest mystery of this film, since he announced his involvement in an interview. It's been said the he will be playing a villainous role, and a few names have come about with the most popular one being Achebe. Let me throw one at you that is less popular. Amahl Farouk aka Shadow King. I mentioned this would be psychological thriller of sorts and we would be dealing with the Ancestral Plane right? Shadow King fits the bill and he and Storm have a pretty intense history to say the least. More mutants, psychological thriller, supernatural\horror, Ancestral Plane, uneasy alliance, new Black Panther, all coming off the heels of 2 multiverse shattering films? Where do I sign?

Shadow King