San Diego Comic-Con 2026 highlights
This year’s San Diego Comic-Con looked like it might be a relatively low-key affair – but once again, the Marvel panel had a couple of major announcements up its sleeve…
Marvel announced the casting of the new Black Panther
The tragic and unexpected death of Chadwick Boseman in 2020 understandably had a massive impact on the tone and plot of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which saw Letitia Wright’s Princess Shuri take on the mantle of the Black Panther, in a film that effectively became a tribute to both the character of King T’Challa, and the actor who had so indelibly portrayed him.
Letitia Wright will be back as Shuri/Black Panther later this year in Avengers: Doomsday (as will Winston Duke, as the new King of Wakanda, M’Baku), but Marvel had some much bigger announcements ready for this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.
Not only was it confirmed that, fresh from his Oscar-winning success with Sinners, Ryan Coogler would be returning to the MCU to direct Black Panther III, but it was also announced that the film already had a December 2028 release date.
But all of those announcements were just teasers for the real news – which is that Black Panther III will be centred around the grown-up son of King T’Challa, and that the role had already been cast – with David Jonsson playing the Prince of Wakanda who will inherit the mantle of the Black Panther.
As anyone who reads this blog knows, I’m a huge fan of David Jonsson, who’s displayed an incredible range in films as varied as Rye Lane, The Long Walk and Alien: Romulus. But not only is David Jonsson a great actor, he also carries himself with an aura of decency, humility and empathy which is very reminiscent of Chadwick Boseman, and which makes Jonsson an ideal selection to inherit the role in the MCU.
Of course, it remains to be seen how Prince T’Challa will be an adult in Black Panther III when he was only a small child in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, or how the storyline will involve Letitia Wright’s Shuri and Winston Duke’s M’Baku - but as a piece of casting news, I really couldn’t be happier about this announcement.
Marvel announced the casting of the new Ghost Rider
The Marvel casting announcements weren’t limited to a new Black Panther, however, with SDCC also witnessing the induction of Ryan Gosling into the MCU as the new Ghost Rider.
Although the character of Ghost Rider has appeared in two (non-MCU) Nicolas Cage films in 2007 and 2011 (and in the TV show Agents of S.H.I.EL.D.), it’s probably fair to say neither of the films were particularly well received (and the TV show was not widely seen), so this is a character ripe for having their moment on a bigger canvas.
As for the casting of Ryan Gosling (who’d been rumoured to be linked to the role for some time, having been a fan of the comics), I think he’s one of the most interesting leading men in Hollywood at the moment. He excelled in interesting and slightly offbeat films like this year’s Project Hail Mary, and The Fall Guy and Barbie before that, and he even managed to steal the show in Blade Runner 2049 from Harrison Ford’s return as Deckard.
I can’t wait to see what he and director Shawn Levy have in store for audiences in next year’s Star Wars: Starfighter, but it’s clear that the two of them enjoyed working together, as they’re immediately going from that project to start work together on Ghost Rider, with a planned 2028 release date.
That means that, as things currently stand, 2027 will see the release of Avengers: Secret Wars, presumably concluding the storylines from this year’s Avengers: Doomsday, and then Ghost Rider and Black Panther III in 2028 will be the first films set in the post-Secret Wars Marvel Cinematic Universe...
Marvel drops new footage from Avengers: Doomsday
And speaking of this year’s Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel ensured that the upcoming movie had a large presence at SDCC, and while I won’t get into spoilers or speculation here, I will say that the footage shown at SDCC clarified one plot point that had left some audience members confused after seeing last year’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
In that film, it was confirmed that the country of Latveria existed in the world of the Fantastic Four (aka Earth 828), but Victor von Doom himself (who is closely connected to the Fantastic Four in the comics) was never mentioned by name, leaving audiences to wonder whether the Doctor Doom to be played by Robert Downey Jr in Avengers: Doomsday was from Earth 828, Earth 616 (aka the main MCU timeline), or somewhere else.
In the new footage shown at SDCC, it is clear that Victor von Doom was already known to Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) and Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) on Earth 828, although perhaps not in his current guise – so at least that potential plot thread is no longer left dangling.
Other SDCC news...
I don’t want to make it sound like SDCC was solely an MCU promotional event – but I don’t think any of the announcements made about other projects were quite as attention-grabbing.
DC Studios released a very horror-focused trailer for the upcoming comic-book movie Clayface, while the trailer for the new Blade Runner 2099 TV show starring Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer looked very intriguing (and very visually impressive).
There was the news that a script for a sequel to the excellent (but criminally underappreciated) Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves had been written (yay!) ... but is unlikely to ever be greenlit by the studio due to financial reasons (boo!).
There was also a standing ovation for Rick Moranis as he returned to end his 30-year retirement from acting, and a host of other announcements and appearances (this is SDCC, after all) – but the Marvel announcements were arguably the main stories to come out of the weekend this year.
