The Wild Reed: Black Panther

Showing posts with label Black Panther. Show all posts

Sunday, August 28, 2022

Heroes Are Never Really Gone . . .

. . . They live forever,
as do the ones they inspire
to carry on the fight.

– The Watcher
in Episode 6 of What If...?

Today is the second anniversary of the death of actor and playwright Chadwick Boseman. Chadwick died of colon cancer on August 28, 2020. He was 43.

Although known and celebrated for several acting roles, Chadwick is undoubtedly best known for playing T’Challa aka Black Panther in the Marvel films Captain America: Civil War (2016), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Chadwick also voiced alternate versions of the character of Black Panther in the first season of the animated series What If...? (2021).

The sequel to Black Panther is set to be released on November 11, and is entitled Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The film focuses on the leaders of Wakanda, who in the wake of King T’Challa’s death, must fight to protect their nation from the invading forces of Namor, aka Sub-Mariner, ruler of Talocan, an ancient civilization of underwater dwelling people connected to the Mayans.

In marking the second anniversary of Chadwick’s death, I share the trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, a film that millions around the world are looking forward to seeing, even as we know it will be a very emotional and bittersweet experience without the presence of Chadwick Boseman.

There have been a number of videos made and posted on YouTube that analyze the above official trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. One of the best ones I've come across is the one below by New Rockstars. Just a heads-up: this video is of 20 minutes duration.

Following is how Wikipedia documents the development and making of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

On August 28, 2020, Chadwick Boseman died from colon cancer. [Black Panther director] Ryan Coogler stated that he had been unaware of Boseman’s illness, and had spent the last year “preparing, imagining and writing words for him to say [in the film] that we weren’t destined to see.”

[Producer] Kevin Feige and other executives at Marvel Studios were also unaware of Boseman’s illness. Boseman, who had become thinner from his illness in the weeks prior to his death, had been prepared to begin gaining the weight back in September 2020 ahead of filming the sequel in March 2021.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, industry observers felt Disney could recast the role, but that might generate a “fan outcry” and prompt comparisons between actors. Another suggestion was for Disney to shift their plans and have [T’Challa’s sister] Shuri take on the mantle of the Black Panther, which occurred in the comic books.

In mid-November of 2020, executive producer Victoria Alonso said a digital double of Boseman would not be created for the sequel, and added that Marvel was taking their time to work out what they were going to do next and how. Later in the month, Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, and Angela Bassett were confirmed to be reprising their roles for the sequel as Nakia, M’Baku, and Ramonda, respectively, while Tenoch Huerta was in talks for an antagonist role [that being of Namor].

In December 2020, Feige confirmed that the role of T’Challa would not be recast, and said the sequel would explore the world and characters of the first film as a way to honor the legacy that Boseman helped build. Feige reaffirmed in January 2021 that visual effects would not be used to include Boseman in the film, and said the primary focus of the sequel was always about further exploring the characters and “different subcultures” of Wakanda.

The first footage from the film was shown in a sizzle reel of Disney’s upcoming films during the studio’s presentation at CinemaCon in April 2022. On July 23, 2022, Feige, Coogler, and the cast promoted the film at the San Diego Comic-Con alongside live performances from singer Baaba Maal, tama player Massamba Diop, and the debut of the teaser trailer. The trailer features a cover of Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry” that transitions into Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.”

Both Leah Simpson and Giovana Gelhoren of People called the footage “powerful,” while Sandra Gonzalez of CNN felt the teaser commemorated Boseman’s performance and wrote “amid the grief that permeates the preview, there’s hope, the birth of new life (literally) and a glimpse at the future, with a clawed sneak peek of a new suited hero.”

Writing for IndieWire, Christian Zilko also felt the teaser commemorated Boseman’s performance while also opining that this presented a “daunting" challenge for Marvel Studios for Black Panther’s future, due to Boseman being regarded as "one of the cornerstones of the MCU moving forward” and the studio not recasting his role.

Variety’s Carson Burton and J. Kim Murphy felt the teaser focused on who would “take on the mantle” of Black Panther, noting the presence of a mysterious figure at the end of the trailer.

The teaser trailer received 172 million views in its first 24 hours of release.

_____________________

I close with a special tribute by ABC News which examines and celebrates Chadwick Boseman’s career, from playing historical figures such as Jackie Robinson, James Brown and Thurgood Marshall, to T’Challa in Black Panther.

This heartfelt special was first aired on September 1, 2020, just days after Chadwick’s death. I share it below in two parts. The first part is 18 minutes in duration, while the second is 12 minutes.

Related Off-site Links:
Six Reasons Chadwick Boseman Will Forever Be Our King – Leslie D. Rose (Blavity, August 26, 2022).
Lupita Nyong’o Pays Tribute to Chadwick Boseman, Marking Two Years Since Beloved Actor Died – Amanda Taylor (People, August 28, 2022).
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever First Trailer Unveils Marvel’s Emotional Return to Wakanda and War With Namor – Carson Burton and J. Kim Murphy (Variety, July 23, 2022).
Who Will Be the New Black Panther in Wakanda Forever? – Chris E. Hayner (GameSpot.com, July 28, 2022).

UPDATES: Review: Wakanda Forever Is a Beautiful Expression of Mourning and a Fantasy Epic – Princess Weekes (The Mary Sue, November 8, 2022).
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Is a Thunderous Ode to Love Conquering Death – Toussaint Egan (Polygon, November 8, 2022).
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Does the Near Impossible – David Sims (The Atlantic, November 8, 2022).
Tenoch Huerta, Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Explains Why the Movie Got It Right – Arturo Conde and Candice Williams (NBC News, November 10, 2022).
Wakanda Forever Bids Farewell to T’Challa and Chadwick Boseman – Ababeel TV (November 12, 2022).
An Ode to Namor’s Ankle Wings – Brittany Knupper (The Mary Sue, November 13, 2022).
Why Is Marvel Afraid of Namor’s Bulge? – Joshua Rivera (Polygon, November 18, 2022).
Black Panther 2 Star Reacts to Fan Outcry Over “Removed Bulge” – Jordan Hirst (Q News, November 25, 2022).
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Unearthed Deep Colorism Within Latino Communities – Izzie Ramirez (Vox, November 21, 2022).
How Wakanda Forever’s Creators Decided on New Black Panther, and Major Mid-Credits Reveal – Kevin Polowy (Yahoo! Entertainment, November 21, 2022).

For previous Wild Reed posts about Chadwick and his work, written when he was still with us, see:
• The Important Cultural Moment That Is Black Panther
• Celebrating Black Panther – Then and Now
• “Avengers Assemble!”
• Jason Johnson on Stan Lee’s Revolutionary Legacy
• Another First for Black Panther
• “Something Special,” Indeed!
• Queer Black Panther

For The Wild Reed’s special series that remembers and celebrates Chadwick since his passing, see:
• Remembering Chadwick Boseman
• Honoring An Icon
• Chadwick Boseman’s Timeless Message to Young Voters: “You Can Turn Our Nation Around”
• Chadwick Boseman’s Final Film Role: “A Reed Instrument for Every Painful Emotion”
• Celebrating a Special Day
• Boseman on Wilson
• Chadwick Boseman and That “Heavenly Light”
• In This Time Marked By Grief
• A Bittersweet Accolade
• Chadwick Boseman Receives Posthumous NAACP Image Award
• “He Was Just Interested In the Work”
• Remembering Chadwick Boseman’s Life of Purpose
• The Political Legacy of Chadwick Boseman
• Remembering an Actor Who “Changed Everything”
• “The Perfect Send-Off”

See also:
A Special Day

Saturday, August 28, 2021

“The Perfect Send-Off”

Today is the first anniversary of the death of actor Chadwick Boseman.

I’ve been honoring Chadwick at The Wild Reed on the 28th day of every month since his passing last year on August 28. Chadwick died of colon cancer, and although he had been living with the disease since 2016, he never spoke of it publicly.

Today the honoring continues with my sharing of a heartfelt piece by The Gamer’s Stacey Henley. It focuses on Marvel’s animated Disney Plus series What If...?, in which Chadwick posthumously reprises his role as T’Challa (aka Black Panther).

Henley’s article is reprinted in its entirety below with added images and links.

___________________

What If . . . ? Is the Perfect
Send-Off for Chadwick Boseman

By Stacey Henley
The Gamer
August 24, 2021

Hearing Chadwick Boseman in What If...? was always going to be bittersweet. Not only was it Boseman’s last turn as the character of T’Challa/Black Panther but, as an animated show, it also led with his voice, something Boseman was particularly central to forming. Black Panther was originally going to have an American accent, but Boseman stepped in and suggested our African hero who was born and raised in Africa should probably sound African. Boseman himself then worked with a dialect coach to create the Wakandan accent, which all the other actors then had to learn. Black Panther is a crucial character in the Marvel Comics Universe (MCU) and is important to so many people. From day one, Boseman understood this.

As the Infinity Saga closed, it was clear that Boseman was being positioned as the MCU’s new lead. He is the first character to emerge from the portals in Avengers: Endgame [above] and he is the character who picks up the Infinity Gauntlet [left] during the literal passing of the torch. Black Panther, Spider-Man, and the female heroes are intentionally pushed into the spotlight in the battle against Thanos. These are the heroes of the future. Thanks to Boseman’s untimely passing, this will no longer come to fruition, and with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever avoiding a CGI Boseman out of respect, What If...? will be his last turn in the role of T’Challa. That’s especially fitting, with the question “what if” being destined to hang over the MCU forever when it comes to Boseman.

Of course, at the time at Marvel nobody knew this. Boseman kept his cancer diagnosis a secret from the public and most of his colleagues, so What If...? was never written as a last hurrah. That’s probably for the best though; T’Challa as Star-Lord is such a hopeful tale and a fitting goodbye to Boseman that it had to happen organically. Any attempt to write a real goodbye would have been far too schmaltzy, and would have been robbed of the humour, wit, and spikiness that What If...? has.

We’re two episodes in now, and we’ve had one miss and one hit. Peggy as Captain Carter sounds great on paper, but it played out far too similarly to Steve Carter’s own time as Captain America in the war and shoehorned in a relationship that no longer made sense. It just felt like Captain America: The First Avenger with Carter in the lead role. T’Challa as Star-Lord [aka Peter Quill] does not suffer in this way. It is not just Guardians of the Galaxy with Black Panther. The entire dynamic of the crew is flipped. We see a post-Mad Titan phase Thanos, a more sophisticated, femme fatale interpretation of Nebula, a new Drax, a softer Yondu, and the same old Kraglin and Taserface.

It doesn’t just reimagine T’Challa as Star-Lord. T’Challa is, by all accounts, a less selfish person than Peter Quill. Sure, some of that is down to upbringing – Quill was raised by a single, sickly mother in Nowheresville, Missouri, while T’Challa is royalty – but some of it is just nature. Quill is loyal and protective, but he’s also a bit of a douchebag. T’Challa as Star-Lord is more of a Robin Hood character - he’s able to defeat Thanos with words and is much more capable when it comes to rallying people to his cause. It’s not just replacing a character in the story, it’s rewriting the story for the character.

It’s not a riff on Guardians at all. It’s more What If...? Ocean’s Eleven Was Robin Hood, Oh And Also Black Panther Is Star-Lord And Friends With Thanos. It’s exactly what What If...? should be, and it even throws the spotlight on Howard the Duck. In showing a new side to Nebula, it could be a key part of her post-Endgame faceturn development, but for now, all eyes are on T’Challa.

We are set to get more T’Challa What If...? stories before the first season wraps up, and that too is bittersweet. The most recent episode felt like the perfect conclusion, and it feels like tempting fate to ask for more. Then again, Boseman is one of the MCU’s most fascinating performers, a rare straight man hero, letting Shuri riff off him and giving Killmonger the breathing space to become one of the best villains superhero cinema has ever seen. I want more of Boseman, but I also want him to have a fitting ending. What If...? gave him that, and I can only hope the series keeps it up.

– Stacey Henley
The Gamer
August 18, 2021

Related Off-site Links:
T'Challa’s What If...? Episode Proves He Was the Best Hero the MCU Could Have – Alexis Medd (Mashable, August 19, 2021).
What If...? Takes Black Panther to Space in a Twist on the Comics – Jude Jones (Polygon, August 18, 2021).
Marvel’s What If...? – Inside That Beautiful Chadwick Boseman Episode – Don Kaye (Den of Geek, August 18, 2021).
Chadwick Boseman Relished Playing a More Cheerful T’Challa in What If...? – Susana Polo (Polygon, August 18, 2021).
Marvel’s What If...?: The Huge MCU Ramifications of Episode 2’s Ravagers Lineup – Gavin Jasper (Den of Geek, August 18, 2021).
Marvel’s What If...?: Different Versions of T’Challa Will Appear in Four Episodes – Wesley LeBlanc (IGN, August 3, 2021).
Daughter of James Brown Pays Tribute to Chadwick Boseman, One Year After His Death – Chris Bucktin (Mirror, August 27, 2021).
Remembering Chadwick Boseman’s Inspiring Life and Legacy on One-Year Anniversary of Death – Antoinette Bueno‍ (Entertainment, August 28, 2021).
Co-star and Friends Remember Chadwick Boseman, One Year Later: “He Was An Angel on This Planet” – Elise Brisco (USA Today, August 28, 2021).
How Chadwick Boseman’s Private Love Story Added Another Layer to His Legacy – Natalie Finn (E-Online, August 28, 2021).

UPDATES: What If: 5 Ways T’Challa Is A Better Star Lord – Jasmine Venegas (CBR.com, September 7, 2021).
What If? Zombie Episode: Chadwick Boseman’s Iconic Black Panther Quote Touches Fans’ Hearts – Jenna Anderson (ComicBook.com, September 8, 2021).
Black Panther’s Angela Bassett Opens Up About Filming Sequel Without Chadwick Boseman – Michele Theil (Digital Spy, September 9, 2021).
Rumor Says Black Panther 2 Will Introduce a New Queer Superhero – Mey Rude (Out, September 9, 2021).

For The Wild Reed’s series that remembers and celebrates Chadwick Boseman, see:
• Remembering Chadwick Boseman
• Honoring An Icon
• Chadwick Boseman’s Timeless Message to Young Voters: “You Can Turn Our Nation Around”
• Chadwick Boseman’s Final Film Role: “A Reed Instrument for Every Painful Emotion”
• Celebrating a Special Day
• Boseman on Wilson
• Chadwick Boseman and That “Heavenly Light”
• In This Time of Grief
• A Bittersweet Accolade
• Chadwick Boseman Receives Posthumous NAACP Image Award
• “He Was Just Interested In the Work”
• Remembering Chadwick Boseman’s Life of Purpose
• The Political Legacy of Chadwick Boseman
• Remembering an Actor Who “Changed Everything”

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• The Important Cultural Moment That Is Black Panther
• Celebrating Black Panther – Then and Now
• “Avengers Assemble!”
• Jason Johnson on Stan Lee’s Revolutionary Legacy
• Another First for Black Panther
• “Something Special,” Indeed!
• Queer Black Panther

Thursday, January 28, 2021

In This Time Marked By Grief

Actor Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer five months ago today.

On the 28th day of every month since his passing, I’ve honored Chad in some way at The Wild Reed. I continue this honoring today by sharing an excerpt from Joshua Barajas’s September 9, 2020 NewsHour story, “What Chadwick Boseman’s Death Means In a Year Marked By Grief.”

The grief Barajas is referring to is, of course, the grief caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a pandemic that is still very much with us, even as the roll-out of vaccines continues to slowly pick up steam.

Because the pandemic is still with us, the grief – both individual and collective – is also still with us. Barajas' article is thus just as relevant in these early days of 2021 as it was five months ago, back in 2020. Indeed, it could be retitled, “What Chadwick Boseman’s Death Means In This Time Marked By Grief.”

__________________________

A boy freezes as a TV reporter delivers the news that someone important to him has died. Wearing his “Black Panther” costume, the boy drops his action figure of King T’Challa.

“Daddy! Daddy! My h-hero is gone!” he cries in his father’s arms.

The boy is the center of a comic by artist Courtney Lovett, who at first didn’t believe the news that actor Chadwick Boseman had died. After seeing the late-night alerts on social media, she went to bed thinking it could have been a dream. But the next morning, the headlines hadn’t budged. Lovett said she doesn’t normally get emotional after a celebrity’s death. But this was no normal year.

The overlapping crises of 2020 have been acutely felt by Black people in the U.S. The novel coronavirus has worsened pre-existing disparities, both in health and financial security, and claimed a disproportionate number of Black lives. Police violence against Black people has not let up, touching off outpourings of anguish and months of nationwide protests.

Since COVID-19 began infecting and killing Americans, our rituals for grieving have changed. Not everyone can attend funerals of loved ones. Time spent reminiscing and honoring the dead has to be spent farther apart or over video chat. The process of grieving itself can be more isolating now.

At risk of understatement, Boseman’s death was shocking – the reactions on social media were swift in their immediate disbelief and despair. The official statement from the actor’s family revealed that he had been living with a colon cancer diagnosis for the past four years. The actor who had spent his career embodying towering Black figures in history – Jackie Robinson, James Brown, Thurgood Marshall – hadn’t been vocal about his diagnosis.

“It’s a lot to take on at one time,” said Monnica Williams, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at University of Ottawa’s School of Psychology.

“Every Black person I know is exhausted just from life right now,” she said.

Lovett, heartbroken, began to see the pictures posted by parents of children memorializing Boseman – a figure who had embodied Black lives in America and Africa. There were many Wakanda salutes, many makeshift memorials for Black Panther with superhero toys paying their respects.

With those images in mind, Lovett created a 10-panel comic that not only paid tribute to the 43-year-old actor, whose work and storytelling she admired, but to also leave a message of hope for the children who looked up to Boseman or his most famous character, King T’Challa, as an idol.

In Lovett’s comic, a black panther appears to the boy, who’s in bed grieving. The panther comforts the boy and then leads him to Boseman who delivers a message from the afterlife: The child, too, is a king.

Lovett said she wanted to end her comic by telling children that, “You are so great. You can still do these things, even though you feel that your hero is gone, we still have heroes here. You are a hero.”

[. . .] Lovett said she received comments and direct messages from people thanking her for her comic. Several said it helped them to grieve. Lovett said some parents told her they hesitated in telling their children about Boseman’s death, fearing that such news would make them feel defeated. But Lovett’s comic provided a doorway to a conversation around the loss of their hero.

Lovett said the outpouring after Boseman’s death felt like a “collective release.” Grieving for Boseman and his family was, in a way, also grieving for everything that has happened this year.

– Joshua Barajas
Excerpted from “What Chadwick Boseman’s Death Means
In a Year Marked By Grief”
The NewsHour
September 9, 2020

NEXT: A Bittersweet Accolade

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Marianne Williamson: In the Midst of This “Heartbreaking” Pandemic, It’s Okay to Be Heartbroken
• Christmas 2020: A Time of Loss and Grief, Gratitude and Hope
• Grief and Gratitude
• Hope and Beauty in the Midst of the Global Coronavirus Pandemic
• “You’re All Kings and Queens”
• Remembering Chadwick Boseman
• Honoring An Icon
• Chadwick Boseman’s Timeless Message to Young Voters: “You Can Turn Our Nation Around”
• Chadwick Boseman’s Final Film Role: “A Reed Instrument for Every Painful Emotion”
• Celebrating a Special Day
• Boseman on Wilson
• Chadwick Boseman and That “Heavenly Light”
• The Important Cultural Moment That Is Black Panther
• Celebrating Black Panther – Then and Now
• “Avengers Assemble!”
• Jason Johnson on Stan Lee's Revolutionary Legacy
• Another First for Black Panther
• “Something Special,” Indeed!
• Queer Black Panther

Opening image: Billy Thao.

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Honoring An Icon

It’s been a month since news broke of actor Chadwick Boseman’s death at age 43 from colon cancer. Unbeknown to all but his family and medical team, Boseman had been living with the disease for the past four years.

I must admit I can still find myself experiencing a catch in my spirit whenever I am reminded that he is gone from this world; when I realize that apart from his posthumous appearance in the soon-to-be-released Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, we won’t see him again in a new movie. And most incredulously, we will never see him again in the role with which he will forever be celebrated, that of King T’Challa of Wakanda, aka Black Panther.

I’ve been giving some thought as to why Boseman’s death has had such an impact on me. I think a big part of it is that I’d developed a deep admiration for him as both an actor and a human being. He was a very humble, thoughtful, and caring man. I also resonate with both the story and the queer appeal of Black Panther, the film that made Boseman an international star.

In the weeks since his passing, all kinds of tributes and memorials have been made and created honoring Chadwick Boseman as both an accomplished actor and a generous and compassionate human being.

For instance, the image that opens this post depicts a recently unveiled mural in Disneyland that celebrates Boseman and the way he would visit and interact with children living with serious, often terminal illnesses – even as he himself privately struggled with cancer.

Boseman made a real difference in the lives of these children and their families, as numerous photos show (right and below) and family members themselves attest.

He truly was a living icon, which is to say that his life served as a window into the deeper meaning of why it is we're here.

To be an icon is to also choose to live in such a way that one’s life and example serve as a trail marker or guidepost for all who are longing to embark on any type of journey of transformation – their own and the world’s. In his all too brief life, Chadwick Boseman chose to work to become the hero of his own story, his own journey. And in doing so, he inspired others to become the hero of theirs.

____________________________

Following are words and images that pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman – icon, guidepost, hero.

In a tragically brief but historically sweeping life as an actor, Boseman played men of public life and private pain. Before [news broke of his death], we didn’t know he, too, was bearing such a burden. That has only magnified his accomplishment, bringing him closer to the great figures whose shoes he wore on film. He played men who advanced a people’s progress, a trail he helped blaze himself. He played icons, and died one, too.

“There’s a lot to learn from Jackie Robinson. There’s a lot to learn from James Brown. There’s a lot to learn from Thurgood Marshall,” Boseman said [two years ago of the icons he has played]. “I would like to say that some of those qualities have infused themselves into me at this point.”

– Jake Coyle
Excerpted from “Chadwick Boseman Didn’t Just Play Icons. He Was One”
Associated Press News
August 29, 2020

Each time [Chadwick] stepped on-set, he radiated charisma and joy, and each time he appeared onscreen, he created something truly indelible. He embodied a lot of amazing people in his work, and nobody was better at bringing great men to life. He was as smart and kind and powerful and strong as any person he portrayed.

– Kevin Feige
Marvel Studios Creative Officer

I always marveled at how special Chadwick was. Such a pure hearted, profoundly generous, regal, fun guy. My entire job as Okoye [in Black Panther] was to respect and protect a king. Honor his leadership. Chadwick made that job profoundly easy. He was the epitome of kindness, elegance, diligence and grace. On many an occasion I would think how thankful I was that he was the leading man I was working closely with. A true class act. And so perfectly equipped to take on the responsibility of leading the franchise that changed everything for Black representation.

He made everyone feel loved, heard and seen. He played great, iconic roles because he possessed inside of himself that connection to greatness to be able to so richly bring them to life. He had a heroic spirit, and marched to the beat of his own drum; hence his excellence as an artist and the incredible courage and determination as he faced life’s challenges; while still guiding us all.

– Danai Gurira
Quoted in Christian Spencer's article,
“Danai Gurira: Chadwick Boseman Was Exactly Like Black Panther”
The Grio
August 30, 2020

Sometimes it’s the small things that let you know the character of a person. There have been two times that I’ve been out in public where [Chadwick went] out of his way to say hello. This is after the major success of Black Panther. One of them was at the airport. I was coming in, he was coming out. Another time, we were literally on the street. He was just always sending love and sending vibes and checking in on you. I’m like, there must be 10,000 people in your life every day, but you would still take time to reach out to people and to connect with them.

– Aakomon Jones
Quoted in Matthew Jacobs's article,
“How Chadwick Boseman’s Humility Made Him A Star”
The Huffington Post
September 2, 2020

Above: Brooklyn artist Kenny Altidor stands alongside his latest mural, one dedicated to Chadwick Boseman. According to the Brooklyn Paper, the mural, on the wall of Family Altagracia Caribbean Crusine on Clarendon Road and East 56th St., East Flatbush, gained wide praise from the community. (Photo: Lloyd Mitchell)

Below: The mural of Chadwick Boseman that appeared in Cambridge, MA’s “Graffiti Alley” in early September. (Photo: Erin Clark/The Boston Globe)

I thought back to all his performance and all those incredible people he’s played, and I realized I don’t think you can do it as convincingly as he did if he did not possess that same grace in real life. You can’t act that.

– Paul Rudd

Above: The “Be Your Higher Self / Chadwick Boseman / Black Panther” mural by Rahmaan Statik, located at 89th and Commercial SE in Chicago IL. (Photo: Rahmaan Statik)

Murals dedicated to Chadwick Boseman have not only appeared in cities across the U.S., including Nashville and Dallas, but have also been created across the globe – in Brazil and the United Kingdom, for instance.

One of the last times we spoke, you said we were forever linked, and now the truth of that means more to me than ever. since nearly the beginning of my career, starting with All My Children when I was 16 years old [taking over a role from Boseman], you paved the way for me. You showed me how to be better, honor purpose and create legacy. . . . Everything you’ve given the world – the legends and heros that you’ve shown us we are – will live on forever. But the thing that hurts the most is that I now understand how much of a legend and hero YOU are. Through it all, you never lost sight of what you loved most. You cared about your family, your friends, your craft, your spirit. You cared about the kids, the community, our culture and humanity. You cared about me. You are my big brother, but I never fully got a chance to tell you or truly give you your flowers while you were here. I wish we had more time.