Chadwick Boseman, best known for his blockbuster role as Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero character Black Panther, has died on August 28, 2020 at the age of 43. Boseman’s family announced his passing today, revealing that he was first diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016. The disease eventually progressed to stage IV. Boseman had been undergoing chemotherapy and surgeries between and during his film roles, according to the statement from his family.
Prior to his death, Boseman was scheduled to appear in a variety of upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe films, most notably Black Panther 2. The first Black Panther movie broke numerous box office records at the time of its release, becoming the highest-grossing film by a black director. It was also a major critical success, getting nominated for Best Picture at the 91st Academy Awards (a first for a superhero movie), among a number of other awards. In the statement from his family, they described his role as King T’Challa/Black Panther as the “honor of his career.”
While Boseman was best known for his role as Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he appeared in a variety of other films and television projects over the course of his career as well. His most recently-released film was the critically-acclaimed war drama film Da 5 Bloods, which was directed by Spike Lee. Upcoming drama film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom may very well be the last film to feature Boseman, as filming wrapped in 2019, but it currently has no release date at the time of this writing. It’s set to premiere on Netflix at some point in the future.
