A week before his death, Chadwick Boseman was convinced he’d beat cancer and regain weight for Black Panther 2
Actor Chadwick Boseman was sure that he’d beat cancer and regain weight to play Black Panther again, even a week before his death.
Chadwick Boseman was convinced that he would beat cancer and be fit to film Black Panther 2, even as recently as a week before his death on August 28. The actor had been fighting a private battle against colon cancer for four years, with only a handful of people outside his family aware of his condition.
According to a new story on The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel president Kevin Feige received an urgent email about Chadwick’s deteriorating health on the 28th, but the actor was dead an hour later, “sending shock waves through Disney and the tight-knit Marvel Cinematic Universe.”
The studio is currently focussing on paying proper tribute to the actor, who starred as King T’Challa in the films, instead of on how they could move forward with the multibillion-dollar franchise.
According to the report, only a handful of people outside the actor’s family were aware of his condition. These included his “producing partner Logan Coles, longtime agent Michael Greene, trainer Addison Henderson and 42 director Brian Helgeland.”
Work on a Black Panther sequel was in motion, with director Ryan Coogler hard at work on the script. The report says that they were due to begin filming in March, for a 2022 release. In his remembrance of the actor, Coogler had written, “I spent the last year preparing, imagining and writing words for him to say, that we weren’t destined to see. It leaves me broken knowing that I won’t be able to watch another close-up of him in the monitor again or walk up to him and ask for another take.”
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