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Ok. It’s time. I’ve ran from this for as long as I could, but I have to face it head on, no matter how much it hurts like hell:
I cried. Multiple times. I cried as I tried to muster up the words for this thread. It’s just so fucking unfair. Like I know how childish that sounds but that’s all I could think for several days. This man dedicated his life to telling important black stories, and elevating black
voices. I found out important dynamics in Black Panther (Killmonger’s last words for instance) were directly attributed to him, and as the movie’s aftermath shower, the man was the epicenter of a cultural moment. Anyone that knows me, knows that this movie genuinley changed me.
My outlook, my perspective, my sense of self worth and how I percieved it as a black man. I was so proud of the film, of how it did, of how it spoke to a generation of black youth that they can do it too. That we can stand just as tall as the rest of em’, and do damn good.
Chadwick deserved to live long and expand that legacy himself. He deserved to keep telling stories important to him and black people, and deserved that more lucrative deal he’d have gotten when he renegotiated with Marvel.
I honestley wanted to curse God for doing this to him, to me. Like it genuinely felt like something priceless was taken from me, and I didn’t understand why he would do this to such a kind and gentle soul. Like of all the people to do this to, why him? HE WASN’T DONE YET!!!!
Of all the people that deserve to have their thread cut short, of all the people that sow nothing but bad seeds, why did such a good man have to die the way he did. Like, sometimes it just feels like God doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing....
Then I looked closer. I saw how this man was diagnosed in 2016, and endured countless medical procedures in between multiple productions, and never let on. He could have used this for sympathy, accolades, money, but he didn’t let his condition detract from his craft.
Hell, he even went to visit kids going through cancer themselves to give them strength that they could beat it. I mean........wow! The strength of character, the dignity and grace that he handled himself with, knowing his time was short......it couldn’t be me.
And honestley, that’s what i’ll remember him for. As T’Challa and as himself, Chadwick was a king through and through. His body may have succumed, but he did not let the sickness beat him. He fought, and lived up till the very end, and the respect I have for him is beyond words.
I thank him for all that he has done in his carrer to elevate up and coming black talent. I wish he had more time. It felt unreal that he didn’t. He was in movies, and he had money, and this kind of thing isn’t supposed to happen to them.....but it does, and it did.
For all his wealth and resources, his time was set from the beginning. We all have a limited amount of time in this world, and we don’t know when it’s coming. I can only pray my life will be even one-tenth as well lived as Chadwick’s, and I hope @MarvelStudios will do the right
thing, and recast. Chadwick is gone, but the Black Panther still lives. He has to. I feel Chadwick would have wanted it that way. That if he was unable to continue the role of a lifetime, he would want to pass it to someone else who could use the leg up.
I get the idea of making Shuri the Black Panther, and while i’d love to see that, killing T’Challa off-screen that way would be a disgrace to the character, and Chadwick’s work into the role.
Superman lived on past Reeve.
We’ve had five Batmen
We have two Flashes
We can have another Black Panther. We need another Black Panther. I truly hope Chadwick’s legacy will continue with love and care at Marvel Studios, and look to the future with hopeful optomism.
We’ve had five Batmen
We have two Flashes
We can have another Black Panther. We need another Black Panther. I truly hope Chadwick’s legacy will continue with love and care at Marvel Studios, and look to the future with hopeful optomism.
And while I know this is very late, i’m changing my layout for a week to a Black Panther setup to honor the once and forever king of Wakanda. Rest well, Mr. Boseman, you ran your race better than most ever will.
