David Jonsson: London’s rising star cast as the new Black Panther | Video

Few characters have the character of Black Panther. Since 2018, the Wakandan king has become an international symbol of black goodness, known for reshaping the expectations of screen actors.

The first film grossed more than $1.3bn (£1bn) worldwide, won three Oscars and became the first superhero film to be nominated for best picture.

Now, six years after the death of the film’s star, Chadwick Boseman, Marvel has found the next T’Challa: British star David Jonssonwho will play Boseman’s son in Black Panther 3.

The fan reaction is so great that when Jonsson was shown on stage by director Ryan Coogler at Comic-Con in San Diego over the weekend, the crowd started chanting “Wakanda forever”.

According to Marvel, Coogler recommended Jonsson for one of Hollywood’s most coveted roles six months ago.

“He called me and said, I have found him; The president of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige recalled. “‘It’s this man, David Jonsson.’

It’s an impressive rise for an actor who grew up in east London Docklands, dropped out of school, and, a few years ago, rose to fame thanks to his role in the HBO/BBC bank drama series.

Coogler later told Feige that he knew Jonsson was right for the role after meeting with him privately after he finished. Sinners. “That’s the boy,” he said. “I felt that in my heart because he’s a good guy, and he’s the next Black Panther.”

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.

He has spoken about an argument that took place after his parents separated when he was 11. He pushed boundaries at school and was later expelled for fighting as a teenager.

“I wasn’t a bad kid at all,” said the narrator he told the Guardian. “I was a little busy at the time.”

It was then that Jonsson told his mother – one of London’s first black police officers – that he wanted to be an actor.

At a new school in Hammersmith, a 90-minute journey across the city, he started doing school plays, and at the age of 16 he received an opportunity to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. Returning to Britain two years later, he joined the National Youth movement Theater before winning a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Jonsson left drama school early to join a revival of Mary Stuart opposite Juliet Stevenson, who moved to the West End; his 2021 performance in And Breathe… at the Almeida won him the Black British Theater Award.

Television came along with his stage career. After early roles in the ITV detective drama Endeavor and the Fox UK espionage thriller Deep State, his breakthrough came as Gus Sackey in Industry, a cult drama about young graduates of a London bank.

To prepare, Jonsson immersed himself in the world of elite schools and Oxbridge opportunities far removed from his upbringing. He left the show in 2022. “Life is short, art is long,” he later told GQ.

His rise since then has been rapid. His film directorial debut came in the 2023 romcom Rye Lane for Raine Allen-Miller, which debuted at Sundance to critical acclaim and earned him a British Independent Film Award (Bifa) nomination.

She became the first Black lead in the television adaptation of Agatha Christie and the BBC’s Murder Is Easy.

Then came the sci-fi horror Alien: Romulus in 2024 – which earned him a Bafta Rising Star award, the Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk, and the British prison film Wasteman, which earned him a second Bifa nomination.

Jonsson has always known what his roles stand for. “Any character I’m going to play, no matter what, I’m going to be a Black person,” he said.

Accepting his Bafta award last year, he added: “Growing up, I had Denzel Washingtons and Idris Elbas, but that’s not me.

“There is not enough room for diverse talent in this industry. I recognize that I have an important role to play in defining Black.”

Paul Roseby, CEO and artistic director of the National Youth Theatre, said: “I remember watching David play the lead in our production of Pigeon English at the Bristol Old Vic in 2013. He was electrifying.

“His kindness and generosity as a creator and person continues to shine through. We are so grateful to him for taking the time in recent years to share his experiences with our talented generation, and we are proud of all that he is doing.”

Interviewers described him as warm-hearted, with “good intentions” – which would make him the perfect successor to Boseman, who was highly respected for his humility and grace.

The mantle of Black Panther has already passed, to Letitia Wright’s Shuri in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).

Jonsson plays the next generation of the royal family of Wakanda, based on the character’s name and great heritage.