Damson Idris addresses Black Panther casting rumours

Damson Idris has neither confirmed nor denied he has been cast as Black Panther.

Following the passing of the previous T’Challa actor Chadwick Bosemen in 2020, the F1 star, 33, has been linked to the Marvel superhero, and Idris has now addressed the rumours he has taken on the role for the third Black Panther movie.

During an appearance on the Today show, presenter Craig Melvin asked Idris if he had spoken to Marvel about becoming the next Black Panther, to which the actor said: “Yes, no!”

The Snowfall star was then quizzed on if he would accept an offer to play Black Panther, to which Idris simply replied: “Yes!”


Bosemen had portrayed T’Challa in Ryan Coogler’s 2018 blockbuster Black Panther, and had also appeared elsewhere in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and Avengers: Endgame in 2019.

After a secret battle with stage III colon cancer, the actor passed away in August 2020 at the age of 43.

Following Boseman’s death, the 2022 Black Panther sequel, Wakanda Forever, saw the mantle get passed to Letitia Wright - who portrays T’Challa’s sister Shuri.

Director Ryan Coogler is set to helm a third Black Panther movie, and the filmmaker recently confirmed Denzel Washington would appear in the blockbuster after the actor let slip he was attached to the project.

Speaking on the 7 p.m in Brooklyn podcast, the Sinners director said: “That’s a big f*** with it. F*** with it or f*** out of here. You crazy?”

Coogler added he was writing an original character for Washington that has not been seen in the Marvel comics.

Speaking about Washington’s role, he said: “There’s no fiction out there about that.”

The director previously said he was “dying” to work with the Gladiator II star.

Speaking on the Nightcap podcast, Coogler said: “I’m dying to work with Denzel and I’m hoping we can make that happen. I got every intention of working with him in that movie and as long as he’s interested - it’s going to happen.”

Coogler went on to hail Washington a “living legend and a great mentor”.

He added: “He’s all about looking out for us.”

The director also teased fans will have “not long” to wait for the third Black Panther film.

Washington had spilled his potential involvement in the next Black Panther flick when he was laying out what his final projects would be before he retired from Hollywood.

He told Australia’s Today show: “At this point in my career, I’m only interested in working with the best, I don’t know how many more films I will make, probably not that many. I want to do things that I haven’t done.”

Sharing the roles he had lined up before he sunsetted his acting career, The Equalizer star teased: “I played Othello at 22, I’m now going to play it at 70. After that, I’m playing Hannibal. After that, I’ve been talking with Steve McQueen about a film.

“After that, Ryan Coogler is writing a part for me in the next Black Panther. After that, I’m gonna do the film Othello. After that I’m gonna do King Lear. After that, I’m gonna retire.”