Chadwick Boseman makes final performance as T'Challa in Marvel's What If…?
17 August 2021, 16:01
Watch Chadwick Boseman’s final performance as T’Challa in Marvel’s What If…?
Voicing T'Challa in What If...? will be Chadwick Boseman's final appearance as the Black Panther hero.
Chadwick Boseman is set to make his final appearance as T’Challa on Marvel’s What If…? tomorrow.
The Black Panther actor sadly passed away from colon cancer in 2020 at the age of 43, but managed to record the voice of his character T’Challa one final time beforehand.
What If…? is Marvel’s first animated series and features fan favourites such as T’Challa, Peggy Carter, Doctor Strange, Killmonger and Thor in a multiverse show that explores alternate timelines from the original MCU films. Basically, expect the MCU you know and love to get mixed up and experimental with plenty of twists along the way.
The first episode of the series aired last week (August 11) on Disney+, but Chadwick’s character, who will take up the Star-Lord mantle, will enter the series as a recurring character from this week’s episode, coming to the streaming platform tomorrow (August 18).
Head series writer A.C Bradley told Entertainment Weekly that working with Chadwick on the series was “brilliant”.
"He cared about T'Challa so much — all the actors care about these characters but Chadwick Boseman understood the power of Black Panther and his role as an icon,” she said. “He read the scripts beforehand, he would pass on some notes or thoughts. They were always smart, articulate, brilliant."
He was also one of the first actors to sign-up to voice his character in the animated series, according to director Brian Andrews.
"His excitement level was awesome because he knew what he was going through — we didn't, similar to everybody except his closest inner circle," he explained. "He wanted every chance he could to get T'Challa out there, and this was going to be one of those last chances.”
Chadwick was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016 and battled with it for four years while still shooting some of the most popular roles of his career. His diagnosis was not known to the general public.
The director added: “He was a super pro and wonderful and super amazing and we had no idea, you know? He brought so much to the role and he was into it and fun."
Episode 2 of Marvel’s What If…? comes to Disney+ on August 18.
READ MORE: Michael B. Jordan writes heartfelt tribute to Chadwick Boseman
