It is just over a year since Chadwick Boseman passed away, and Black Panther fans paid tribute to him on what would have been his 45th birthday.
Chadwick Boseman made a huge impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a short space of time, having made his debut in Captain America: Civil War and going on to make history with Black Panther. For that reason it is no surprise that on what would have been the actor’s 45th birthday, Marvel fans had the phrase Wakanda Forever trending on Twitter as they paid tribute to the late actor who is still sadly missed in the industry just over a year after losing his battle with cancer.
Having only stepping into the acting spotlight in 2012 in 42, Chadwick Boseman very quickly established himself as one to watch, going on to portray James Brown in Get Up and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall. By the time of his death in August 2020 from colon cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2016 but kept mostly secret, Boseman had a run of movies already filmed including Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which earned him a Best Actor Academy Award and Golden Globe nomination and only served as a reminder of the amazing actor that had been taken from the world too soon.
However, for many, Boseman was and always will be T’Challa in Marvel’s Black Panther and Wakanda Forever was the only phrase that was going to trend today as fans remembered the actor. The phrase will also be the title of the second Black Panther movie, which will carry on the legacy of Boseman’s T’Challa but will not recast the character. While the future of the Black Panther character was uncertain for some time, but it was eventually decided that the original plan for the sequel would be altered to both honor Boseman and ensure that his memory will love on in the franchise.
This year saw the release of Marvel’s What If…? series on Disney+, which featured the final performance of Boseman in a voice role that was recorded prior to the actor’s passing, and once again created an emotional bond between the series and the fans. Exactly where the character of T’Challa could have gone in the future of the MCU is something that we will never fully know, similar to how we will never know just like how high up the ladder of success Boseman could have climbed in the movie industry. He will forever now join the list of celebrities taken too soon, who were never able to reach their potential.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is not the only time we will be returning to Wakanda, with a TV series also in the works. Moving on with the franchise was not easy for anyone involved, as director Ryan Coogler explained previously when asked about continuing the legacy of Black Panther. “It’s difficult. You’ve got to keep going when you lose loved ones. I know Chad wouldn’t have wanted us to stop. He was somebody who was so about the collective. Black Panther, that was his movie.”
You can read some of the many posts made on Twitter in appreciation of the actor.
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