At San Diego Comic-Con, Wakanda’s next chapter finally moved from rumor to reality as Marvel confirmed Black Panther 3 and introduced David Jonsson as the new face carrying the mantle forward. The Hall H reveal had the emotional weight of a baton pass, especially for fans still thinking about Chadwick Boseman’s legacy and the future of the Black Panther line.

Now, Kevin Feige has opened up about how that casting came together, and the story starts with a secret meeting that involves Sinners Ryan Coogler.

Kevin Feige told Empire that Ryan Coogler was not waiting around for a formal search to begin. Instead, he said Coogler had already spotted Jonsson as the right choice and arranged a hidden meeting before the studio’s official casting process even started.

“He had a secret meeting with him under cloak of darkness in a hotel somewhere,” Feige said explaining that Coogler came away convinced he had found the next Black Panther. Feige added that Coogler was so certain he had found the right actor that he quickly brought Marvel into the loop.

“He’s the guy, he’s the guy, I felt it,” Coogler reportedly told him after meeting Jonsson, according to Feige’s retelling to Empire. Feige said that reaction gave him immediate confidence too, recalling that he “got chills” and knew Marvel should move ahead.

The timing makes the reveal even more striking. Feige said Marvel had been sitting on the secret for about five or six months, which means the studio had already locked in the direction long before Comic-Con made it public. That secrecy helped Marvel keep the Black Panther handoff under wraps until Hall H, where the company finally confirmed that Jonsson will play T’Challa’s son, Prince T’Challa II, in Black Panther 3.

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Marvel’s San Diego Comic-Con rollout kept building momentum, and after the Black Panther 3 reveal, the next big surprise was Ryan Gosling stepping into the MCU as Ghost Rider.

The announcement landed during the convention’s Hall H excitement, where Kevin Feige teased that Ryan Gosling had long been a name fans kept bringing up for the MCU. Moments later, the lights dropped and Gosling walked out to a huge reaction, confirming that he will headline a new Ghost Rider film set for 2028. He said the role was one he had wanted for a long time, which only added to the sense that this pairing had been years in the making.

The project also carries some history with it. Ghost Rider is returning to the screen after earlier films starring Nicolas Cage, and this new version will mark the character’s third major cinematic outing. That gives Marvel a chance to reboot Johnny Blaze for a new era while leaning into the darker, supernatural side of the MCU. Shawn Levy will direct the film, making the team-up especially notable since he is already working with Gosling on Star Wars: Starfighter.

Levy even joked that he and Gosling kept bouncing Ghost Rider ideas around during downtime, which suggests this project already has a strong creative spark behind it. With Wakanda’s future now set and Ghost Rider revving up for a comeback, Marvel’s next phase is clearly leaning into both legacy and reinvention.

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What do you think about David Jonsson taking on the Black Panther mantle and Ryan Gosling as Ghost Rider? Let us know in the comments.