Back in March, "Sinners" director Ryan Coogler reacted to Denzel Washington's public statements about appearing in "Black Panther 3" and while it was something Coogler seemed excited about, he stopped just shy of confirming it.

Few movie studios are quite as secretive as Marvel. The MCU is a major franchise, and the attempts to keep spoilers from leaking are quite significant. This made it more than a little wild when Denzel Washington just came out and said he would be in Black Panther 3, a movie that Marvel had never even confirmed it was making.

In November 2024, the ‘Training Day’ star let slip that he and Coogler were in talks about the role When Ryan Coogler began thinking about the cast of Black Panther 3, top of his list was Denzel Washington.