Friends, fans and family took to social media on Sunday (November 29) to honor Chadwick Boseman on what would have been his 44th birthday.
Chadwick, who was best known for his portrayal of King T’Challa a.k.a. the Black Panther, passed away on August 29 following a four-year battle with colon cancer. He’d kept his illness under wraps and continued to star in iconic roles across several films. Although his life and career were tragically cut short, his legacy continues to inspire and be remembered by many.
Michael B. Jordan shared a black-and-white photo of the two of them embracing on Instagram, captioning with a heartfelt message, “Continue watching over us King. Happy Birthday . Miss you.”
Lupita Nyong’o posted a photo of the two of them all glammed up and smiling, writing, “Deeply loved, sorely missed. #ChadwickBoseman.”
Mark Ruffalo shared a behind-the-scenes video from the set of a Marvel movie, where the cast and crew all sang “Happy Birthday” to Chadwick. “Thinking of your passion, love, and your light today. Happy Birthday. Wishing we could time travel back to this moment,” he wrote.
Viola Davis, who starred opposite Chadwick in his final film, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, tweeted, “Happy birthday in Heaven, Chadwick! You are still so alive to me!! I love you.”
Rapper Common also went on Twitter to pay tribute to the late actor, “Chadwick Boseman would have turned 44 years old today. Happy Birthday King. God Bless You. Thank you for using your gift to bring light to this world. RIP.”
Chadwick’s alma mater, Howard University, also honored Chadwick. “Gone but not forgotten! Rest in Power #ChadwickBoseman,” the school wrote on Twitter.
And Marvel paid a special tribute to Chadwick, incorporating his videos in the opening montage for Black Panther. Sharing the clip on Twitter, they wrote, “Long live the King. #WakandaForever”
Marvel Studios EVP Victoria Alonso has previously opened up about how the franchise move forward with Chadwick gone. In an interview with Argentinian outlet Clarin earlier this month, she revealed that there are no plans to digitally recreate Chadwick to appear in the upcoming films.
“No. There’s only one Chadwick and he’s not with us. Our king, unfortunately, has died in real life, not just in fiction, and we are taking time to see how we continue the story and what we do to honor this chapter of what has happened to us that was so unexpected, so painful, so terrible, really,” Victoria said, per Entertainment Tonight’s translation from Spanish. “Because Chadwick was not only a wonderful human being every day for the five years that we spent together, but it also seems to me that what he did as the character elevated us as a company, and left his mark in history.”
“I know that sometimes two months go by or three months go by in production and you say, well, it was a long time,” she continued. “But it is not a long time, we have to think carefully about what we are going to do, and how, and think about how we are going to honor the franchise.”
