Denzel Washington says he will retire soon, not before ‘Black Panther 3’

• Denzel Washington said he plans to retire after “working with the best” on a few more films.
• “I want to do things I haven’t done yet,” he said, citing Hannibal and King Lear as future roles.
• He also said that director Ryan Coogler is writing a role for him in Black Panther 3.

From the outside looking in, Denzel Washington doesn’t seem to be slowing down. But the 69-year-old actor said he is actively planning his retirement.

Washington, who will next be seen opposite Paul Mescal in Gladiator II, has a busy few years ahead of him: He’s already cast to play the ancient military general Hannibal in a Netflix film directed by Antoine Fuqua and booked to play Othello again in an Antoine Fuqua film Broadway revival of Shakespeare’s play.

In a recent interview with The Today Show AustraliaWashington revealed that he is also in talks with directors Steve McQueen and Ryan Coogler about future projects – but fans shouldn’t expect many more films from him after that.

“At this point in my career, I’m only interested in working with the best. I don’t know how many more films I’ll do, probably not that many,” Washington said. “I want to do things I haven’t done yet.”

“I played Othello when I was 22, now I’m going to play it when I’m 70,” he continued. “After that I play Hannibal. Afterwards I talked to Steve McQueen about a film. After that, Ryan Coogler is writing a role for me in the next ‘Black Panther.'” After that, I’ll do the movie “Othello.” After that I’m going to do “King Lear.” After that I will retire.

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Marvel fans were quick to respond to Washington’s comment about Black Panther 3, which the studio has yet to announce.

Coogler wrote and directed the 2018 Oscar-winning film “Black Panther” and the 2022 sequel “Wakanda Forever.” During the end credits of “Wakanda Forever,” on-screen text specifically promises that “Black Panthers are returning becomes”. However, this could have been a teaser for the spin-off series Eyes of Wakanda and Ironheart that are in the works for Disney Plus. BI’s request for comment to Coogler and Disney did not receive an immediate response.

No official news has been announced about a third Black Panther film, but Marvel has several more sequels in the pipeline, including Captain America: Brave New World, Avengers: Doomsday and a fourth installment of Spider. Man” starring Tom Holland.