After David Jonsson, Marvel Is Eyeing Another ‘The Long Walk’ Star for an X-Men Role
Marvel Studios has spent this year’s Comic-Con season proving it has done its homework when it comes to scouting fresh talent, and one particular pattern has started catching the attention of eagle-eyed fans. Between casting rumors and confirmed announcements, the studio appears to have developed a genuine soft spot for the cast of one very specific film.
That film is ‘The Long Walk’, the recent Stephen King adaptation that has quietly become something of a talent pipeline for Marvel’s next wave of projects. With one major casting confirmation already locked in and another persistent rumor continuing to build steam, it is becoming hard to ignore just how often that particular movie keeps coming up in conversations about Marvel’s future.
The confirmed piece of that pattern arrived directly from Comic Con itself, where director Ryan Coogler revealed David Jonsson as the new face of ‘Black Panther’ in ‘Black Panther 3’. Jonsson, who starred in ‘The Long Walk’ alongside a cast full of rising talent, will play an adult version of T’Challa’s son, Prince T’Challa II, a character first introduced as a young child during the closing moments of ‘Wakanda Forever’.
That reveal carried real emotional weight for those on stage. Jonsson grew visibly moved as the announcement was made, thanking the Comic Con crowd directly, while Letitia Wright, who will continue playing Shuri, later described feeling a genuine personal connection to Jonsson given their shared history, adding that seeing everything come full circle left her still processing the moment, in comments made to Entertainment Weekly.
The film is set for release on December 15, 2028, with Coogler returning to direct and co-write, joined once again by Wright and Winston Duke as M’Baku. Denzel Washington has also previously confirmed his own involvement in the project, adding even more star power to Coogler’s continuation of the Wakanda saga.
That casting news has fueled fresh speculation around a second potential Marvel role tied to the very same King adaptation. Cooper Hoffman, another member of ‘The Long Walk’ ensemble, has been repeatedly named in ongoing rumors as the studio’s reported top choice to play Cyclops in its long awaited ‘X-Men’ reboot.
According to multiple entertainment outlets citing industry insiders, Hoffman has emerged as a genuine frontrunner for the role of Scott Summers, the X-Men’s field leader, though nothing has been confirmed by Marvel Studios or any major trade publication. At 23 years old, Hoffman would represent a notably younger, less traditional take on the character compared to previous live action portrayals.
Who would you rather see join the MCU from ‘The Long Walk’?
Fans quickly picked up on the coincidence once both stories began circulating close together, joking that Marvel clearly must have loved ‘The Long Walk’ enough to start pulling directly from its cast list. Given how competitive Marvel casting searches typically are, pulling two potential leads from the same smaller-scale project within the same casting cycle is a pattern worth noticing.
Whether or not Hoffman’s rumored casting as Cyclops ever becomes official, the confirmed addition of Jonsson to the ‘Black Panther’ franchise alone marks a major moment for Coogler’s trilogy. With filming for the ‘X-Men’ reboot not expected to begin until next year, fans will likely be waiting a while longer to see if Marvel’s apparent fondness for ‘The Long Walk’ cast extends even further.
‘Black Panther 3’ is scheduled for release on December 15, 2028.
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