Denzel Washington claims Black Panther 3 will be one of his final movies

A few years ago, before his untimely passing, it was revealed by Black Panther/T'Challa himself, Chadwick Boseman, that during some of the darkest periods of his early career that legendary actor Denzel Washington actually paid and helped fund his efforts in acting school. This led to a speech by Boseman where he stated "there is no Black Panther without Denzel Washington," both in reference to how he helped Boseman become the actor he was, but also because of the strides and achievements that Washington made over his career to help lay the foundation for African-American filmmakers and stars.

Since that amazing moment, Boseman sadly passed away from a long battle with cancer, but it looks like his former director Ryan Coogler and his former mentor Washington will be getting together to continue the Black Panther legacy.

Speaking on Australia's Today show, Washington stated that Coogler is writing a role for him in Black Panther 3 and that it will likely be one of his last roles.

"For me it's about the filmmakers. Especially at this point in my career, I am only interested in working with the best. 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. 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."

While that might seem upsetting to hear that Washington is in the sunset era of his career, it should be said that Black Panther 3 in particular has not even been announced or confirmed by Marvel Studios (even if we do expect it to eventually arrive), meaning if it does end up becoming a reality it will likely be scheduled for the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe after the next two Avengers films, the latter of which will debut in 2027. Essentially, we could be waiting until the end of the 2020s or even early 2030s for the next Black Panther movie.

For the time being, you can see Washington in Gladiator 2 when it opens in cinemas this week.