Marvel’s Comic-Con Bombshells David Jonsson Named New Black Panther, Ryan Gosling to Star as Ghost Rider

SAN DIEGO — Marvel Studios returned to Hall H on Saturday with its biggest Comic-Con panel in years, and walked out with two major casting announcements that will shape the next phase of the MCU: David Jonsson is the new Black Panther, and Ryan Gosling is joining as Ghost Rider.

British actor David Jonsson, 32, was introduced on stage by director Ryan Coogler. He was joined by Letitia Wright and Winston Duke. Jonsson placed his hand over his chest, smiled, and addressed the crowd.

“Thank you to this family that I have the honor and the blessing to join. I don’t want to say too much, because I want to let the screen do the talking,” Jonsson said.

Jonsson is best known for HBO’s Industry, as well as roles in The Long Walk and Alien: Romulus. In Black Panther III he will play the son of T’Challa, the character originated by Chadwick Boseman.

Boseman died in 2020 at age 43. The 2022 sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ended with the reveal that T’Challa had a son, setting up the question of who would eventually take up the mantle. For four years fans speculated — with names like Damson Idris and Wright herself floated online. On Saturday, Marvel gave its answer.

Coogler, who directed both previous Black Panther films and won an Oscar for his work, returned to the stage to confirm he will helm the third chapter as well. He did not detail the plot, but the implication is clear: the story will follow T’Challa’s son as he grows into the role of king and protector of Wakanda.

The stakes are high. The first Black Panther in 2018 made more than $1.3 billion worldwide and became the first superhero film nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Wakanda Forever in 2022 earned $850 million. The franchise has become one of Marvel’s cultural cornerstones, and passing the mantle to a new generation is both a creative and emotional turning point

Ryan Gosling was brought out by Marvel president Kevin Feige to announce that he will play Johnny Blaze in a new Ghost Rider film, also slated for 2028. The film will be directed by Shawn Levy, who is currently working with Gosling on Star Wars: Starfighter.

“I’m having the greatest flashback vibes being here,” Levy said, referencing his Hall H appearance two years ago for Deadpool & Wolverine. “I’ll never forget that night because it was also my real introduction to the greatest fans anywhere.”

Gosling told the audience he had wanted to play the character for a long time. The casting carries an extra layer of symmetry: Gosling’s longtime partner, Eva Mendes, starred opposite Nicolas Cage in the 2007 Ghost Rider film — released a year before Iron Man launched the MCU. Sony released a sequel in 2012, but the rights have since reverted to Marvel. Until now, the character had not appeared in the MCU proper.

With Levy directing and Gosling starring, Marvel appears to be positioning Ghost Rider as a darker, supernatural anchor for its next slate.

Feige announced that Avengers: Endgame will return to theaters on September 25 with new footage that links directly to the Russo brothers’ Avengers: Doomsday, due December 18.

A trailer for Doomsday was shown in Hall H. It revealed that Robert Downey Jr.’s Victor Von Doom will have a past connection to Reed Richards, played by Pedro Pascal, and Sue Storm, played by Vanessa Kirby.

In the footage, Storm describes Doom as someone who was once different: “Everything he loved was taken from him.” Later, Richards confronts Doom and asks if he is responsible for the devastation around them.

The Russos, who directed Endgame and Infinity War, are returning to close out this chapter of the MCU. Bringing Downey back as a villain rather than Iron Man has been one of Marvel’s most talked-about moves, and the trailer suggests his Doom will be personal, not just powerful.

Marvel skipped Comic-Con in 2025, so Saturday’s panel was the studio’s first big Hall H appearance in two years. The timing was deliberate — less than five months before Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters, Marvel needed to show where the universe is headed after that.

Naming Jonsson as Black Panther answers the franchise’s biggest open question. It allows Wakanda’s story to continue with a direct link to T’Challa, without recasting Boseman. It also puts a young British actor with rising dramatic credentials at the center of one of Marvel’s most important properties.

Adding Gosling as Ghost Rider signals that Marvel is ready to explore its supernatural and horror-leaning characters more directly. With Blade also in development, Ghost Rider gives the MCU another antihero who operates outside the usual Avengers framework.

And re-releasing Endgame with new Doomsday footage is a classic Marvel move: use nostalgia to drive audiences back to theaters while setting up what comes next.

Fans who had waited in line for days responded with some of the loudest cheers of the weekend. When Jonsson walked out, the room erupted. When Gosling appeared in a leather jacket and grinned at Feige, the reaction was just as big.

For Marvel, it was a statement that despite a rocky few years of delays and Disney+ series, the core theatrical event movies still drive the culture.

With Black Panther III and Ghost Rider both set for 2028, and Doomsday arriving this December, Marvel has now mapped out the next three years in broad strokes: legacy continues in Wakanda, supernatural forces enter the fight, and the Avengers face their most dangerous villain yet.

As Coogler put it from the stage, the goal is to honor what came before while letting new voices take the lead. On Saturday in San Diego, Marvel made that idea literal