The late Chadwick Boseman has been honored with a posthumous Emmy Award. The rising star actor — who passed away at the age of 43 from colon cancer — won the Outstanding Character Voiceover Performance for his role in Marvel's What If...? animated series.
Boseman had become a household name when he played King T'Challa in 2018's Black Panther. Prior to his passing, he had recorded his voiceover for the What If...? episode “What If … T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?”
Marvel's What If...? explores various alternate timelines of the multiverse in which major moments from the Marvel Cinematic Universe films occur differently. In the episode, the Ravagers mistakenly abduct young T'Challa from Wakanda and as a result, it is he who becomes the famous galactic pirate known as Star-Lord rather than Peter Quill.
The episode aired in August 2021, nearly one year after Boseman's death. Boseman's wife, Simone Ledward Boseman, accepted the award on her late husband's behalf. Per the Hollywood Reporter, Simone Ledward Boseman took the stage at downtown Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater and spoke about her late husband's role as he privately battled cancer.
“When I learned that Chad was nominated for this award, I started thinking about everything that was going on when he was recording — everything that was going on in the world and in our world and just being in such awe of his commitment and his dedication.”
“And what a beautifully aligned moment it really is that one of the last things he would work on would not only be revisting a character that was so important to him and his career and to the world, but also that it be an exploration of something new, diving into a new potential future — particularly with everything he spoke about purpose and finding the reason that you are here on the planet on this very time. You can’t understand your purpose unless you’re willing to ask, ‘What if,’ unless you’re willing to say, ‘What if the universe is conspiring in my favor, what if it’s me?'”
“Thank you so much for the honor — Chad would be so honored, and I’m honored on his behalf."
Boseman's work in Black Panther not only propelled the actor to stardom but also resulted in that film becoming the first superhero movie ever to be nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards. The sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is set to arrive in theaters this November with director/co-writer Ryan Coogler returning. Meanwhile, a second season of What If...? will arrive in 2023 with a third season already confirmed.