King T’Challa is gone. The lead of ‘Black Panther’ Chadwick Boseman passed away on August 28th, after a secret battle with cancer. Now, his co-stars from the hit Marvel film are mourning the immense loss.
The news that Chadwick Boseman had died of colon cancer at the young age of 43 after a secret 4 year battle was a surprising and immense blow to all who loved his movies and the actor himself. He was perhaps known best for his titular role in the Marvel superhero film The Black Panther and shortly after the news of his passing, tributes from his co-stars came pouring in.
Sterling K. Brown was one of the first of Chadwick’s Black Panther co-stars to publicly mourn him. The 44-year-old tweeted, “I don’t have words. Rest In Peace, Bruh. Thank you for all you did while you were here. Thank you for being a friend. You are loved. You will be missed.” Angela Bassett initially responded to her Instagram by showing a broken heart emoji in the caption, along with a series of heartwarming photos of her alongside Chadwick, both onscreen and off.
In a separate post, Angela wrote a long caption recalling how he was her student escort at Howard University when she received an honorary degree from the school. And that by playing mother and son in Black Panther, they’d come full circle. Angela added, “This young man’s dedication was awe-inspiring, his smile contagious, his talent unreal. So I pay tribute to a beautiful spirit, a consummate artist, a soulful brother…’thou aren’t not dead but flown afar…’ All you possessed, Chadwick, you freely gave. Rest now, sweet prince.” #WakandaForever.”
Chadwick’s Twitter and Instagram accounts officially announced the news late on Friday evening, confirming his passing after the ‘true fighter’ lost his battle with stage four colon cancer. “It is with immeasurable grief that we confirm the passing of Chadwick Boseman,” the statement read. “It was the honor of his life to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther.” In addition to his co-stars from that film, other actors from The Avengers paid tribute to Chadwick as well.
The Marvel film went on to be one of the franchises biggest success, both at the box office and with critics. It was the fifth highest grossing film of the first 22 Marvel movies and in 2019, the film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It was released in 2018, two years after Chadwick was initially diagnosed with stage III colon cancer. What an absolute fighter.
Our hearts ache for those who loved and knew him best. It’s a tremendous loss.