By: David Negron
On August 28, 2020, Chadwick Boseman’s family had reported that after four years of secretly battling colon cancer he had sadly passed away. Boseman was a brave and strong man that even with colon cancer still made movies for us to watch and enjoy. Even though his death was tragic, his fans have showed their immense love and respect for him in the months following his death. Let’s take time to look back at his career and accomplishments.
Chadwick Boseman is most known for his icon role as Black Panther. He was in many movies in the MCU, Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Avengers Infinity War, Avengers Endgame, Black Panther, and many other movies in the MCU. Many fans’ favorite film starring Boseman was Black Panther because of the amazing action scenes throughout the movie and the great performance all the actors give, especially Chadwick Boseman.
Many feel as if Black Panther was the first movie that truly showcased an African American superhero in a mainstream way. There had been other famous African American superheroes before such as Spawn or Blade, but they weren’t as popular or groundbreaking as Black Panther and to most they just weren’t as hopeful and charismatic as him either. When the movie came out, it seemed to give many young African Americans hope and excitement about the future of representation in the film industry. For years following the movie, people filled with love for Boseman cheered “Wakanda Forever”. This is what differentiated Black Panther from movies like Spawn or Blade; not only was an action movie, but a movie of heart that instilled hope in everyone watching.
Besides being featured in several MCU movies, Chadwick has been in many other movies as well. The most recent movie that he starred in was “Da Five Bloods” which won four midseason awards including: best picture, best director, and best actor. The movie is about 4 African American Vietnam veterans who go back to collect the treasure they left there. He has also starred in “21 Bridges”, “Marshall”, and several other amazing movies. In 21 Bridges he plays the lead character who finds out about a massive conspiracy and tracks down two cop killers.
Since Boseman sadly passed away this leaves the character of Black Panther in a very tough position because there is no actor who seems to be able to fill the shoes that Boseman left behind. Although this has led to much speculation of the internet on who is going to play Black Panther in the second movie, many feel as if replacing him to make a new movie would be disrespectful to him and his family. . I don’t think they would CGI Boseman because in my opinion that would be disrespectful to him and his family. Another interesting idea is that the next film is just going to be about Wakanda and its citizens. This could be possible and maybe easier since they do not have to replace the Black Panther and truly honor him. Fans will just have to keep speculating until Marvel and Disney decide what they are going to do with the movie and character.
Chadwick was an amazing actor, but he was also an all-around great person. In his own time, he would surprise sick kids in hospitals and make them feel infinitely better. He even donated 4.2 million dollars of protective equipment to hospitals who needed it. Everyone who met him would leave full of happiness, his co-star Angela Bassett described him as a “beautiful spirit” and a “soulful brother”. “When you are deciding on the next steps, next jobs, next careers, further education, you should rather find purpose than a job or a career. Purpose crosses disciplines. Purpose is an essential element of you.” -Chadwick Boseman
The Watchdog 