Chadwick Boseman Was Determined To Film ‘Black Panther 2’ This September
Not even Disney knew he was ill, either.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman did not let anyone involved in the film series know that he had stage IV cancer, and was adamant that he would begin filming the sequel this September.
Boseman’s death last Friday at age 43 was a shock for both the public and his co-stars, as an announcement on his social media channels said he had passed away from colon cancer, which, unbeknown to most of the world, he was diagnosed with in 2016.
Tributes from his co-workers showed that they too were unaware of Boseman’s illness, with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler sharing a eulogy online describing Boseman as “a caretaker, a leader and a man of faith, dignity and pride” who purposefully “shielded his collaborators from his suffering”.
Now, as per THR, comes the news that Disney, who own the Marvel Cinematic Universe, were also unaware of the star’s cancer diagnosis. They report that Marvel’s chief creative officer Kevin Fiege was only alerted to Boseman’s health issues via email an hour before he died — and he didn’t read the email before Boseman’s family announced his death.
A source close to Boseman told THR that the star was determined to star as King T’Challa/Black Panther in Black Panther 2, whose production was delayed from March to September due to COVID-19. Boseman, reportedly, was convinced he would be fit enough to film the sequel up to a week before his death.
Speaking to a film finance attorney, THR asked what many have been wondering: wouldn’t a giant studio have their actors undergo health checks as a matter of insurance? The answer, surprisingly, is no.
“Big studios don’t often [get] completion bonds,” says Moore. “They are more prevalent in the indie filmmaking world. Sometimes, the big studios will look to insure for a particular actor, but they usually have a particular reason for doing so. Otherwise, studios will just shoulder the risk [of sickness or death].”
The report says only a few outside of Boseman’s family were aware he was ill, such as his agent, producing partner, trainer and director Brian Helgeland, who Boseman worked with in 2013 for 43, a biopic about Jackie Robinson, the first Black sportsman in the MLB.
The article states that Disney is focusing on mourning Boseman, rather than trying to work out what to do with the Black Panther IP. Still, the article, mainly focused on how Disney is reacting to Boseman’s death, floats the idea of having Letitia Wright, who plays T’Challa’s sister Shuri in the series, take-over the title of Black Panther, which would be in keeping with the comic book lore.
Wright yesterday posted her own moving tribute to Boseman on Instagram. Find it below.