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Denzel Washington has revealed that a third Black Panther film is in the works and he's set to star in it.
In an interview with Australia's Today, Washington said Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is writing him a role in the film's third installment.
Washington also noted that Black Panther 3 would be one of his final films before retirement. The Oscar winner is set to star in a new Steve McQueen project and a film adaption of Shakespeare's Othello. Netflix has also backed Hannibal, an upcoming historical epic directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Washington.
“For me, it’s about the filmmakers. Especially at this point in my career, I am only interested in working with the best,” Washington told Today during the press tour for Gladiator II. “I don’t know how many more films I’m going to make. It’s probably not that many. I want to do things I haven’t done.”
“I played Othello at 22. I am about to play Othello at 70,” he continued. “After that, I am playing Hannibal. After that, I’ve been talking to Steve McQueen about a film. After that, Ryan Coogler is writing a part for me in the next ‘Black Panther.’ After that, I’m going to do the film ‘Othello,’ After that, I’m going to do King Lear. After that, I’m going to retire.”
Details on McQueen's upcoming project remain under wraps. Marvel also hasn't officially announced Black Panther 3, but it's no surprise that the successful franchise has been greenlit for a third film.
Washington's upcoming role in the Marvel film comes after late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman revealed the actor paid for his acting school one summer. “There is no Black Panther without Denzel Washington," Boseman said.
“My whole cast stands on your shoulders,” Boseman told Washington as he received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019. “The daily battles won, the thousand territories gained, the many sacrifices you made for the culture on film sets through your career, the things you refused to compromise along the way lay the blueprints for us to follow.”
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