Black Panther 3 Looked Like a Lock for Marvel's SDCC 2026 Hall H Panel as Denzel Washington Was Spotted in San Diego

On the morning of Marvel Studios' San Diego Comic-Con Hall H panel in July 2026, Black Panther 3 was shaping up as the most likely new announcement outside of the Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars material we already knew was coming. From what we were hearing from a lot of sources that morning, if Marvel revealed any new Phase 7 titles that night, Black Panther was a lock.

The panel was set for 8:30 p.m. Eastern, 5:30 p.m. Pacific. Hall H presentations are never broadcast. They are meant as an exclusive for those in attendance, although attendees are allowed to have their cameras out for basically the whole presentation except for the trailers, and plenty of people report on it in real time on social media.

Denzel Washington sightings and a crowded guest list pointed to a big Hall H night

It started late the night before, when multiple sources claimed they had seen Denzel Washington in the San Diego area for Comic-Con. Because we know he is already cast in Black Panther 3, everyone was assuming this put him on the Hall H stage the next day.

It went a little deeper than that. My friend Erik Voss of New Rockstars was hearing that there were tons of actors that none of us were expecting, way more than normal, lined up for the presentation. To me, that painted a picture of one of those old massive Marvel Studios announcements that the studio had shied away from in the previous couple of years, mostly because it could not stick to its release dates. Instead of announcing a ton of projects for future phases, Marvel had been talking only about what was directly in front of it.

Black Panther 3, however, was one of the first Phase 7 projects outside of the X-Men reboot to be announced and confirmed. We know Ryan Coogler was hard at work on the script more than two years earlier, and it had been well over a year since he confirmed that Denzel Washington would be joining the cast.

Damson Idris signed a Black Panther mask and smiled at congratulations

If there is going to be a Black Panther 3, we need T'Challa's son at least somewhat grown up and taking on the mantle. Over the preceding months, channels like mine and industry insiders had shared a clip in which a fan approached Damson Idris outside a restaurant and asked him to sign something. What the fan was holding was a Black Panther mask. Not only did Idris sign it and smile, but when the fan repeatedly said "Congratulations on the role," he just smiled and nodded.

I've always said, "Look, you can't hold anybody to anything." He may not have been listening, and he may simply have signed it. But he knew what he was signing. He looked down at a Black Panther mask, and I doubt he would be willing to put his signature on that if he were not Black Panther.

Then there is the leaked concept art. The Russos claim it still was not theirs, but we know it officially came from Marvel, was done by a Marvel artist and leaked on ArtStation, and it showed the likes of Damson Idris in the Black Panther costume. No one was saying it outright, but if Marvel was truly going to talk about Black Panther 3 and bring Denzel Washington on stage, my question was what would make a bigger splash than announcing the brand new Black Panther.

Secret Wars as the reboot, and doubts over Mahershala Ali's Blade

There is a good chance the new Black Panther will be in Secret Wars, because we know that film is basically the reboot. Instead of waiting until after Secret Wars, Marvel is making Secret Wars the reboot. That is where we will get new X-Men, and that is where we will get introductions for new MCU characters, namely Ghost Rider.

Secret Wars was also heavily rumored to be Mahershala Ali's first appearance as Blade on screen, following his offscreen voiceover at the end of Eternals. With the recent comments at the time, though, I was not sure what to believe anymore, because it seemed like that project was completely dead in the water.

Marvel got burned by its 2019 and 2022 slates

Going into that night, I was not sure how far Marvel Studios was willing to go with announcements anymore. The studio really got snakebit by how far it went in 2019 and 2022, throwing out tons of titles years in advance. It was not able to stick to any of those production plans. Yes, some things were out of its control, like the pandemic and the actors' strike, but that is the whole point: lots of things outside the studio's control can derail massive announcements like those.

Since then, Marvel has wanted to focus on the next year of projects and what is coming out for the rest of the current year.

Why Hall H in 2026 could have been Marvel's last big swing before 2028

San Diego Comic-Con Hall H is something special. It always has been. That is where the first look at Infinity War was unveiled, and since then it has felt like Marvel Studios knows this is its biggest moment. Marvel has its own presentation at D23, which was only a couple of weeks after Comic-Con in 2026, and it has slowly been turning that into its marquee event. But nothing will ever take the place of San Diego Comic-Con.

Normally I would tell people to keep their expectations tempered, because getting everything at once is not how it works at Marvel anymore. What I will say is that Marvel Studios has an established track record of basically skipping every other year at San Diego Comic-Con, especially between Avengers films. That is what it did between Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, and it was not there the previous year after appearing the year before that and announcing Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom.

My point was that if Marvel was not going to be there the following year, in between Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, then the 2026 panel would be its last chance to make a huge splash on that stage before we get to 2028 and the possible release of Black Panther 3, the X-Men reboot or whatever other film comes out that year. My thought process was that this might be the studio's last opportunity, and that it would at least go over the 2028 titles, the ones right after Avengers: Secret Wars, because it might not get a chance to announce them in this fashion afterwards. Yes, D23 was coming in a couple of weeks, but Hall H is Hall H. That is where everybody expects the big one.

What was your dream announcement for that Hall H panel: a cast member, a character or a title?