When the Marvel panel started in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, July 25, fans of the “Black Panther” franchise got the news they’d been waiting for ever since “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” hit theaters in 2022. Writer-director Ryan Coogler, fresh off the success of “Sinners” (his first-ever whole-cloth original film, which won him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and a Best Actor trophy for his lead actor Michael B. Jordan), stepped onto the massive Marvel stage and announced that the “new” T’Challa in “Black Panther 3” will be played by David Jonsson.
As you probably know, the “Black Panther” franchise was hit with an unimaginable tragedy in August of 2020 when, over two years after the first film was released to universal acclaim, star Chadwick Boseman, who originated the role of Prince T’Challa, passed away due to complications from colon cancer. In “Wakanda Forever,” his mother, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), and sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), of the Wakandan royal family, mourn their loss … and at the very end of the movie, T’Challa’s lover Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) reveals that the two had a son. Jonsson will, in “Black Panther 3,” play that T’Challa — the heir to his father’s throne.
It’s particularly exciting that Coogler decided to cast Jonsson in this major role because, as talented as Jonsson is, he’s still a relative unknown to most Marvel fans. With that in mind, here are five fantastic Jonsson projects you must check out before “Black Panther 3” comes out in December 2028.
Rye Lane
Searchlight Pictures/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
In the tradition of films like Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise,” director Raine Allen-Miller’s 2023 film “Rye Lane” takes place across a single day and features a chance meeting between two strangers in South London: Dom, played by David Jonsson, and Yas, portrayed by Vivian Oparah. After Dom finds Yas crying in a public restroom in the middle of an art exhibition, the two start trading war stories about their fraught romantic pasts. Dom, as he tells Yas, recently had to move back in with his parents after his girlfriend Gia (Karene Peter) cheated on him with his own best friend Eric (Benjamin Sarpong-Broni), and Yas experienced a similarly bad breakup with her ex Jules (Malcolm Atobrah).
As the two explore South London (the title of the film comes from the Rye Lane Market, located in the southern section of the British capital), Dom and Yas strike up a surprising romantic connection, but there are still some secrets for each of them to uncover. Allen-Miller’s feature debut is thoughtful, sweet, and funny — aided by a crackling script penned by Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia — and Jonsson absolutely shines as the lovelorn Dom.
Alien: Romulus
In 2024, filmmaker Fede Álvarez contributed to the storied “Alien” franchise with its seventh film, “Alien: Romulus” — set between the original film, 1979’s “Alien,” and its 1986 sequel “Aliens.” In this story, we’re introduced to a group of space colonists, including Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny), who, upon realizing that her Weyland-Yutani contract has been extended without her consent, decides to attempt a daring escape. By her side are her ex-boyfriend Tyler Harrison (Archie Renaux), his pregnant sister Kay (Isabela Merced), the Harrison siblings’ cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn), Bjorn’s adoptive sister Navarro (Eileen Wu), and Andy (David Jonsson), an android who was once programmed as Rain’s brother.
As dangerous creatures attack the group, they start dropping like flies. But Jonsson’s Andy, who manages to make it through a solid amount of the run time, is a vital character and a deeply conflicted one who has to grapple with the fact that he’s not truly human. Jonsson and Spaeny are absolutely fantastic together as surrogate siblings, and now that Jonsson is about to take on a massive MCU role, both of these phenomenal performers are getting the recognition they deserve.
Wasteman
The 2025 drama “Wasteman,” directed by Cal McMau and penned by Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran, is a phenomenal opportunity to see David Jonsson at his best as a performer … particularly because the film is essentially a two-hander between Jonsson and his co-star Tom Blyth (likely best known for his turn as a young Coriolanus Snow in the “Hunger Games” prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”). So what is “Wasteman” about?
Jonsson’s character, Taylor, is a man who’s spent the past 13 years of his life behind bars and, for that reason, is estranged from his young son; when he receives news that he’s able to try and earn an early release thanks to his good behavior, he’s elated. That’s when his new cellmate Dee (Blyth) shows up, and unfortunately for Taylor, Dee is a true troublemaker who immediately starts dealing drugs out of their shared space. As the two men attempt to understand each other, trouble brews and puts Taylor’s early release into doubt.
Speaking to The Telegraph in February 2026, Jonsson admitted that this project was close to home. “Honestly, a life of prison and addiction was just one step away from me,” he said of his life growing up in London with a police officer mother. “I was so close to that [other life], that it was almost tangible.” Knowing that Jonsson has such a personal attachment to this subject matter makes his performance even better, and if you’re trying to make your way through this actor’s filmography before “Black Panther,” you absolutely won’t want to miss out on “Wasteman.”
The Long Walk
Regarded as one of the best adaptations of Stephen King’s work, the 2025 film “The Long Walk,” directed by “Hunger Games” veteran Francis Lawrence, doesn’t include most of the supernatural elements that characterize King’s work. Instead, it imagines a dystopian future (that doesn’t seem all that different from our own world in some ways) where, every year, one boy from every U.S. state is chosen for the opportunity to participate in the titular Long Walk. If they don’t maintain a pace of three miles per hour, they’re killed, and many of them will die in the attempt anyway; when one boy is left standing, he’s given a cash prize and fulfillment of one (1) wish.
Jonsson stars in the film as Pete McVries, a confident but friendly and helpful young man who immediately befriends Maine’s participant, Raymond “Ray” Garrety (Cooper Hoffman). As their fellow walkers start dropping like flies, Ray and Pete are able to keep each other awake during crucial moments and protect one another … until the race nears its end, at least. I won’t spoil the outcome of “The Long Walk,” but considering that Ryan Coogler told Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige that he felt inspired to cast Jonsson after seeing some of his films, it’s easy to imagine that the rich, layered performance Jonsson gives as Pete helped sway the “Sinners” and “Black Panther 3” director.
Industry
Even though the HBO-BBC Two series “Industry” gets completely ignored by the Emmys every single year, more people really need to start watching this fascinating series, which features some of the best working young actors from both England and America. Alongside Myha’la, Harry Lawtey, Marisa Abela, and Ken Leung, David Jonsson is one of the original cast members of “Industry,” a series set at a high-end London finance firm created by former investment bankers Mickey Downs and Konrad Kay. Jonsson plays Augustus “Gus” Sackey, a well-educated and brilliant Eton and Oxford graduate assigned to the investments desk at Pierpoint & Co. As Gus and his friends and colleagues Robert Spearing (Lawtey), Harper Stern (Myha’la), and Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Abela), Gus tries to navigate the difficult personal and professional levels of Pierpoint, with an added level of difficulty: he’s an openly queer man in a hyper-masculine environment, even carrying on a secret affair with an engaged man named Theo Tuck (Will Tudor).
Ultimately, after two seasons on “Industry,” Jonsson parted ways with the series after Gus is fired from his job working for an MP (member of Parliament). It doesn’t seem like there’s bad blood between Jonsson and “Industry,” though; he just wanted a change of pace. When asked about his departure in that same Telegraph interview, Jonsson said, “I want a body of work. When I look at people like Gary Oldman or Tom Hardy, I just think, ‘They’ve done so much’…”
With “Black Panther 3,” Jonsson will be able to show the entire world just what he can do. The film is set to release on December 15, 2028.
