Denzel Washington Outlines Retirement Plan, which Includes "Black Panther 3" Role

Denzel Washington revealed in August that “there are very few films” left for him to make at this stage in his Oscar-winning career, but now he’s revealing that “Black Panther 3″ is one of them. 

Speaking to Australia’s “Today” while on the press tour for “Gladiator II,” Washington said that director Ryan Coogler is writing him a role in the third “Black Panther” film. 

It will be one of Washington’s final movies along with a new Steve McQueen project and a film adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Othello.”

“For me it’s about the filmmakers. Especially at this point in my career, I am only interested in working with the best,” Washington said. “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, referring to the Shakespeare production co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal that opens on Broadway in February 2025. “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 the Steve McQueen project remains under wraps, Netflix has already announced it’s backing Antoine Fuqua’s war movie that will star Washington as the ancient Carthaginian general Hannibal. 

As for “Black Panther 3,” Marvel has yet to officially announce the sequel but fans have been expecting a third tentpole from Coogler given the success of the franchise.

Washington’s involvement in a third “Black Panther” movie would be a full circle moment. 

Before his death in 2020, original “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman revealed that Washington paid for his acting school one summer and thus: “There is no Black Panther without Denzel Washington.”

“My whole cast stands on your shoulders,” Boseman told Washington while honoring him with 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.”