Ryan Coogler Shares 'Black Panther 3' Update

Ryan Coogler let the cat out of the bag, and he couldn't help it.

The two-time Oscar-nominated director was speaking Saturday at Deadline's Contenders Film: Los Angeles, and the 39-year-old director fielded a question about his next film. The panelist, Deadline's co-editor-in-chief Mike Fleming, asked Coogler, in declarative fashion, how quickly Coogler will begin working on Black Panther 3.

"If it was anybody but you, I would say, 'I can neither confirm or deny,'" Coogler told Fleming. “But we’re working on it hard. … Yeah, it's the next movie."

Ryan Coogler confirms ‘Black Panther 3’ is his next film #DeadlineContenders pic.twitter.com/15OH9hpMPY

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) November 15, 2025

Coogler's confirmation drew a round of applause.

For some time now, rumors have been flying that Coogler was returning for the third installment, after directing Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

In fact, it was Denzel Washington, who, in November 2024, accidentally shared with a reporter in Australia that Coogler was writing a part for him.

No word yet on the trilogy's plot. Chadwick Boseman portrayed T'Challa in the first film, which premiered in 2018. Wakanda Forever paid homage to Boseman, who died of colon cancer in 2020.