Denzel Washington called to apologize to Ryan Coogler for letting the “Black Panther 3” cat out of the bag

Denzel Washington wasn't supposed to mention his potential role in Black Panther 3 — and he called director Ryan Coogler to apologize for letting the cat out of the bag.

"I called him the other day. I forgot what it was about — no, I called him to apologize," Washington said in a new interview on the Variety Awards Circuit podcast. "That's right. I called him. I said, 'I'm sorry, man.' He's like, 'No, man, it's all good.' I FaceTimed, and right there next to him was his lady. They were editing. They were hanging out."

Washington said he hasn't heard an update about the next installment of superhero franchise, and made it sound as though plans for the film are a little less concrete than he'd initially implied. "I don't know what he's got cooking for me," he said. "I love Ryan, because he's like, he won't say things. 'You know what I'm saying? Like, you know what I'm saying?' Well, at least that's when he talks to me. It's like, 'You know what I'm saying?'"

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"I'm like, 'No, I don't know what you're saying, Ryan, say it!'" Washington continued. "'Well, like, you know what I'm saying? I'm doing a Black Panther.' That's how he sounds, right? 'Yeah, you know what I'm saying?' And like, I'm like, 'Man, are you kidding me? Just write it! Whatever you write, I'll do it.'"

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The Gladiator II star spilled the beans on the still-unannounced Black Panther 3 while discussing his slate of upcoming projects recently, noting that he had "probably not that many" movies left to shoot during an interview with Australia's Today show last month. "I've been talking with Steve McQueen about a film," he said. "After that, Ryan Coogler's writing a part for me in the next Black Panther. After that, I'm gonna do the film Othello. After that, I'm gonna do King Lear. After that, I'm gonna retire."

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The actor shared details about a few more of his projects during the Variety podcast. "I'm waiting for him," Washington said of McQueen. "Whatever he says, you know. I said, 'You go ahead and call me when you're ready.'"

Washington also said he's hard at work on overseeing an adaptation of August Wilson's play Joe Turner's Come and Gone. "I've talked with [Laurence Fishburne] and a couple other people and that's all," he said of the casting process. "A lot of great actors to choose from."

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The actor added that he hasn't viewed the finished cut of his next film, Spike Lee's reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa's High and Low, which has been referred to as Highest 2 Lowest, High and Low Man, and simply High and Low in various reports. "I haven't seen it yet," he said. "I'm going to see it this week when I go to New York." (The Variety interview took place in November, so it's likely the actor has seen the finished movie at this point.)

He reiterated that his retirement will come eventually, but it isn't right around the corner. "Not tomorrow," he said. "We're all retiring."

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