Few characters carry the cultural weight of Black Panther. Since 2018, the Wakandan king has become a global symbol of Black excellence, credited with reshaping expectations of representation on screen.<\/p>\n
The first film grossed more than $1.3bn (\u00a31bn) worldwide, won three Oscars and became the first superhero movie nominated for best picture.<\/p>\n
Now, six years after the death of the film\u2019s star, Chadwick Boseman, Marvel has found its next T\u2019Challa: British star David Jonsson<\/a>, who will play Boseman\u2019s son in Black Panther 3.<\/p>\n The character\u2019s grip on fans is so huge that when Jonsson was introduced on stage by director Ryan Coogler at Comic-Con in San Diego at the weekend, the crowd erupted into chants of \u201cWakanda forever\u201d.<\/p>\n From left: Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Ryan Coogler, David Jonsson and Kevin Feige on stage at Comic-Con. Photograph: Richard Shotwell\/AP<\/p>\n According to Marvel, Coogler first suggested Jonsson for one of Hollywood\u2019s most coveted blockbuster roles six months ago.<\/p>\n \u201cHe called me and said: \u2018I found him\u2019,\u201d Marvel Studios president, Kevin Feige recalled<\/a>. \u201c\u2018He\u2019s this guy, David Jonsson.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n It is a remarkable ascent for an actor who grew up in the east London Docklands, was expelled from school, and, only a few years ago, was best known for his part in the HBO\/BBC banking drama Industry.<\/p>\n Coogler later told Feige he knew Jonsson was right for the role after meeting him privately following the completion of Sinners<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s the guy,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt it in my soul. He\u2019s a good man, and he is the next Black Panther.\u201d<\/p>\n Jonsson earlier this summer at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Photograph: Jas Lehal\/PA<\/p>\n Jonsson, 32, grew up in Custom House in Newham, the youngest of four children. His father worked as an IT engineer at Heathrow, his mother worked for the Metropolitan police. He describes his heritage as Creole, with roots in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, the Caribbean and Sweden.<\/p>\n He has spoken of the upheaval that followed his parents\u2019 separation when he was 11. He pushed boundaries at school and was eventually expelled for fighting as a teenager.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t a bad kid at all,\u201d the self-described introvert told the Guardian<\/a>. \u201cI was just a bit \u2026 distracted at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther in the original film.<\/p>\n It was around then that Jonsson told his mother \u2013 one of the first Black police community support officers in London \u2013 that he wanted to be an actor.<\/p>\n At a new school in Hammersmith, a 90-minute commute across the city, he began performing in school plays, and at 16 won a scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. Returning to Britain two years later, he joined the National Youth Theatre<\/a> before winning a place the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.<\/p>\n Jonsson left drama school early to join a revival of Mary Stuart opposite Juliet Stevenson, which transferred to the West End; his 2021 performance in And Breathe \u2026 at the Almeida won him a Black British Theatre Award.<\/p>\n Television came alongside his stage work. After early roles in the ITV detective drama Endeavour and the Fox UK espionage thriller Deep State, his breakthrough came as Gus Sackey in Industry, the cult drama about young graduates clawing their way up a London investment bank.<\/p>\n To prepare, Jonsson immersed himself in a world of elite schools and Oxbridge privilege far removed from his own upbringing. He left the show in 2022. \u201cLife is short, art is long,\u201d he later told GQ.<\/p>\n