On August 28th, 2020, Chadwick Boseman’s Twitter account announced that he had died at the age of 43. He passed away at home following a four-year battle with colon cancer, surrounded by his family.
Boseman leaves behind a legacy of significant roles and acts of heroism on and off-screen. His continued success has shown black audiences everywhere there is a place for their stories and faces in Hollywood. His role as Black Panther alone has inspired countless numbers of minority cosplayers to portray characters that look exactly like them. And Boseman uplifted these underrepresented audiences by constantly choosing roles that highlighted black history and beauty.
Boseman rose to fame by playing roles that brought attention to black icons and history, such as Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice in Marshall, James Brown in Get on Up and played the barrier-breaking baseball player Jackie Robinson in 42. After a run of biographical roles, Boseman became the live-action version of Black Panther in Marvel Cinematic Universe in Black Panther, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. His role not only drew immense praise from fans, but the solo film based around the Black hero became the first superhero movie in history to be nominated for Best Picture.
While Boseman carved out his legacy in Hollywood, he also made a point to enrich and uplift his community. He bought out a screening of Black Panther so that 312 kids could see it for free, visited with terminally ill children, and dedicated one of his last tweets to encouraging everyone to vote. The actor strived to fight injustice and inequality while he secretly battled cancer.
Despite being diagnosed in 2016, Boseman appeared in three action-heavy Marvel films, Spike Lee’s Da Five Bloods, and the upcoming Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. And throughout all of those films, Boseman never let audiences see his struggles with health.
When Boseman first appeared as Black Panther he said, “In my culture, Death is not the end.” After seeing the countless number of emotional and heartfelt tributes of love and appreciation that his family, his c0-workers and fans have left behind in the wake of his passing, I know for certain that he was right.
Rest in Power, Chadwick Boseman. Wakanda and your legacy forever.
So sad, he was a wonderful actor and good man.
This year sucks.
He was supposed to be one of the shepherds of Marvel’s future.
A massive loss to the films and humankind.
I know the movie isn’t popular, but I really liked him in Gods of Egypt
He had such huge presence on the screen and off that it’s hard to believe he is gone so soon.
He radiated regal authority. Perfectly cast for the role of Black Panther. What a sad day.
Just heartbreaking.
Damn. Too damn young.
On a different note, even though the medical consensus is that you start looking for colon cancer when you’re 50, apparently that doesn’t work for everyone.
Heartbreaking :( This is one of those celebrity deaths that really made me take a breath. 2020 sucks.
I also highly recommend his SNL Black Jeopardy skit. My husband and I quote it basically every time we see potato salad.
That was so unexpected and sad news :( So talented, and also sounds like a hero off-screen as well. Way, way too young to go. My heart goes out to his loved ones.
Awful, awful news. I’m sure all is well with him, but we could not spare him.
@5
true. One always wanted to see what he would do with any role, even in a lousy movie. Do see Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom if you can. Sure he’ll be brilliant in an amazing work of art.
Of all the devastating blows 2020 has dealt this feels like the heaviest one. For Such a gracious and talented man to be taken so soon is heart breaking. RIP Chadwick
Heartbreaking. He helped and inspired at every step.
@9/fcoulter: Perhaps he was genetically predisposed for this particular cancer because of heredity and so the age thing didn’t really apply in this case?
I’ve also already seen one positive thing to come from this tragedy: in the last four years and especially the last few months there were jokes and memes at Chadwick’s expense (such as “Wakanda Sometimes” and “Wakanda Whatever”) because of images and appearances where he looked tired and then just dramatically thin. So people made their jokes and had their laughs but now knowing the context for his change in appearance and energy level those same people feel guilty for those jokes and comments they made. The takeaway being you never really know what people are going through and the pain they are holding on to without sharing with others so we should have more empathy and consideration for one another. I think that’s really an important lesson in this modern age of the internet and tearing other people down anonymously.
The other big takeaway for me personally is that is a reminder I should get a thorough medical assessment for my own peace of mind being I’m close in age to Chadwick.
Someone on Twitter pointed out that actors in big movies have to take medical tests for insurance purposes. Hundreds of people must have known about his cancer, and they all kept their mouths shut so there wasn’t even a rumour.
@16/garethwilson: I can believe that whoever knew at Disney/Marvel about his condition kept it on lockdown 1) to respect his privacy, and 2) to in no way threaten the financial viability of their product. Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t think of any instances in the past where rumors were leaked in regards to the health or medical condition of an actor with a movie pending release.
@17 You’re right, I can’t think of any examples either. I’m used to thinking Hollywood runs on gossip, but at least they did manage to keep this private.
As you’d expect from an experienced stage actor, he was very funny on Saturday Night Live. Here’s the playlist for the whole show, cued up to the monologue. You can see him play T’Challa in Black Jeopardy, but this is the most SFnal segment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EVI7wIV7tk
We now know the real reason there was no BLACK PANTHER 2, despite the incredible box office and reviews. I hope the Marvel people figure out a way to continue stories in Wakanda, particularly Shuri’s. She is a role model for young geek girls for the ages.
TBS is playing BLACK PANTHER tonight.
@20/MByerly: Black Panther 2 was always slated to be released on May 6, 2022 and that was announced on Aug. 24, 2019. That was a whole year ago that announcement was made and Boseman was still actively making movies then. Writing for Black Panther 2 didn’t even begin until last year so Boseman’s medical condition isn’t the reason we don’t have a sequel yet. Marvel/Disney rolls out their movies in planned phases and they want each movie to be special and the best it can be. If that wasn’t the case, they would have rushed ahead to get Black Panther 2 out whether it was mediocre or not knowing Boseman’s health was deteriorating.
The news of his passing was a very sad surprise. He was a great actor who proved he could practically do anything. He did drama, comedy, action, biographies, you name it. And he did them all well. His choice to keep his illness to himself made me respect him even more, to be honest. Also, it was eerie that he passed on Jackie Robinson Day, whom he played onscreen, which is also the same day as Jack Kirby’s birthday, who co-created Black Panther with Stan Lee.
@@@@@ 19 JohnArkansawyer: Agreed. The SNL skit where he plays T’Challa in “Black Jeopardy” is just perfect.
ABC will be airing Black Panther commercial free tonight 8PM Eastern Time followed by a special on Chadwick Boseman. Here also is a poignant statement on his passing by Black Panther director, Ryan Coogler:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/08/30/entertainment/ryan-coogler-chadwick-boseman-statement/index.html
@15 I remember these photos and comments too. However, while some were guessing that something was really wrong, most were thinking he was preparing for a role which many actors do by drastically loosing/gaining weight.
Plus, at the time he was filming marvel movies, I think everyone who knew his diagnosis, including him, were hoping for good outcome. There is a world of difference between stage 3 and stage 4 cancers.
A considerable talent just entering his prime has been taken from the cinematic world and a worth fit to be missed has been lost to his family & friends.
Requiescat in Pace.
On a less serious note, some little time ago I stumbled onto Mr Boseman in an old episode of COLD CASE in which he played a community activist/lawyer-type who seems to have been channeling the younger Barack Obama – who, this being COLD CASE, is promptly murdered and becomes a tragic memory – and, given this role and the Ancient Cinematic Law* that ‘Marvel Hero must DC villain be’ I’ve often thought he would have been an excellent casting choice for Harvey ‘Two Face’ Dent in some Batman adaptation.
* ©ED 2020.
Here’s a moving clip of him paying tribute to Denzel Washington at the AFI. It’s 2018; he looks thin & drawn. You can tell by the way he moves across the stage that he’s feeling fragile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWIgdO9LhKQ
Just thinking of all the great Shakespeare roles he could have played: In addition to the obvious (Othello), in some of the great roles like John of Gaunt in RICHARD II or Brutus in JULIUS CAESAR, or Prospero in THE TEMPEST
This is a touching clip of Boseman with the Black Panther cast and director at a promotional event for the film telling the moving story of two kids with cancer who he kept in touch with as he was making the movie and how they were trying to survive long enough to see it released. It takes on another level of meaning as he himself was fighting the same battle at the same time:
https://youtu.be/6J-D86wfxiE
This man was on-track to be the great actor of his generation; a crying shame.