Chadwick Boseman, famous for the portrayals of King T’Challa of the fictional Kingdom Nation of Wakanda, donning the Superhero character of Black Panther, and Andre Davis a NYPD cop in the movie 21 bridges passed away yesterday in Los Angeles. He was battling Colon cancer for a long time. Since 2016, he was dealing with Level 3 Colon cancer which aggravated to level 4 this year. He had portrayed some real life figures like Thurgood Marshall in the 2017 movie Marshall, James Brown in Get on Up and Jackie Robinson in 42. Last year he played the role of a cop(Andre Davis) in the movie ‘21 bridges‘ which was lauded for the intense and gripping acting by the characters in a dark narrative of urban drugs running. His romance with the world of acting, drama and story telling began in his junior year when he wrote a play called ‘Crossroads’ and staged it in his school when one of his classmates was fatally shot.

One of his most talked about, discussed and appreciated portrayals has been that of the Superhero King T’Challa in an advanced African nation – Wakanda in the 2018 movie Black Panther set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe narrative. This film with Black Panther as a Superhero who battles with the idea of integrating his isolated, hermit yet advanced country with the world, was hailed as an important milestone in Afro-futurism. It went on to win an Academy award in 2019. The director of this movie Ryan coogler (of Creed fame) had praised the efforts put in by Boseman in learning the South African Xhosa dialect especially for this Marvel movie. Chadwick had stepped into the wider global limelight in 2016, with the release of the third Installment of Captain America in the MCU franchise. Very few people knew at that time that this actor was actually coping with a Level 3 Colon cancer. One can gauge the amount of dedication put in by Boseman into filming the famous action sequences (like the jaw-dropping Leipzig airport battle) for the  Russo brothers’ directorial venture which went on to become a global blockbuster of 2016.

He was also onboard for mega movies like the third and fourth Avengers movies- Infinity War and Endgame. The iconic sequence of Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Captain America (Chris Evans) sprinting in the lead side by side followed by a lineup of superheroes and an army to take on an invading horde of hideous alien creatures-Outriders at Wakanda in the mega blockbuster ‘Infinity War‘ will be unforgettable for countless Black Panther fans (including me).

Chadwick Boseman will also be remembered for his brilliant portrayal of a soldier who served in Iraq and is suffering from Post traumatic stress disorder in the TV series Lincoln heights. His performance in ‘Message from the King‘ turned many heads around the world. Actors like Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson who worked with Boseman on Marvel projects and other prominent actors like Dwayne Johnson paid their homages to him on their Social media handles.