There can be no mistaking the vote of confidence Winston Duke has in David Jonsson to lead a new era of Marvel’s Black Panther. In an exclusive chat following Ryan Coogler’s announcement at San Diego Comic-Con, the actor made it plain that the cast is “so happy” to have Jonsson in the lead.
Duke, 39, who has been M’Baku since the 2018 film, was told of the casting only moments before the news broke and he got his first look at the 32-year-old Jonsson later that day. “I had a word with Ryan and that was it,” the veteran said, noting the matter was as new to him as to any member of the public. He put it down to the ensemble making a move together, one born of a common stake in the franchise and the characters, not to mention the legacy of the late Chadwick Boseman.
As for what comes next, Jonsson is set to take on T’Challa II, the son of T’Challa and Nakia we were introduced to as a boy in the mid-credits of Wakanda Forever. The third installment will see him come of age and don the Black Panther mantle. Denzel Washington is on board, Letitia Wright will be back as Shuri and Duke will once again play M’Baku. They are to shoot on 70mm for a theatrical debut on Dec. 15, 2028.
Then there is the matter of how one is altered by ten years in the Marvel machine. “I’ve changed in every way,” Duke said, and he is not alone in that sentiment; the public’s perception of him has shifted along with an unanticipated kind of worldwide backing for the part.
His words have a certain heft to them, coming as they do from a veteran of the franchise at a time when Marvel is charting its course. The decision to put a new face in the lead following Boseman was no small matter and called for some fine tuning. But in what could be seen as more than a corporate mandate, Duke makes it clear the rest of the company is on board. Such an internal agreement will stand them in good stead once production gets under way and the usual scrutiny of an MCU transition sets in.
To make T’Challa’s son the focal point is to change the structure of the piece altogether. Rather than simply run the old arcs into the ground, the film seems set to deal with the weight of legacy and what is left behind. It is a narrative risk in a catalogue that can be accused of being too formulaic. Coogler’s writing and Jonsson’s direction will ultimately tell if the movie makes something of it, but there are indications from the cast that they are ready for Wakanda to move on.
Source: People