The passing of Chadwick Boseman was a huge blow. Not just for fans of the Marvel Franchise Black Panther, but the acting world of Hollywood, and more importantly to Black culture and representation. For these aforementioned reasons, it’s important that Marvel continues the Black Panther legacy.
Historically, Black Panther is one of the first Black superheroes in comic books. For many reasons, this was a milestone. Taking his name from the group of people who fought for Black liberation and equality and the titular character being a prince of a rich technologically advanced kingdom in Africa was a huge thing. Considering at the time the myths of a poor and politically unstable Africa, alongside the typecasting and sole representation of Black people being criminals or crack addicts.
Marvel made huge strides in 2016, bringing this character to life through Chadwick Boseman. Boseman with his once-in-a-generation talent made the character of T’Challa his own, inspiring many Black people to be proud of their skin and to find and embrace their roots of Africa. He became a role model to many Black people who had very few to aspire to, the typical being athletes and musicians. Boseman quickly became a living icon, deservedly so, a gracious king on and off the screen.
Sadly, his deserved success would come to an end with his unfortunate passing from cancer in 2020. This led many to speculate whether Marvel would shelve the sequel film that had been in development, for who could replace the iconic role that was eternally Boseman’s legacy?
It has been revealed that the mantle will be passed down to Letitia Wright, aka Shuri, which is a massive relief to many including myself. As I said, the role of T’Challa (in arguably the most important Marvel film in the franchise) is his legacy and his alone, however, it’s important that Marvel treasures and continues the legacy despite this.
Black Panther is more than a movie and franchise. It is much needed positive representation for Black people all over the world. Positive representation is so important especially in this context given the racism, stereotypes, and lack of role models due to colonialism and slavery, alongside the media contributing to the systemic lack of opportunities for Black people. The subsequent lack of role models in the Black community is a problem as you are shaped by your environment, and when you don’t see people who look like you represented in certain spaces it’s difficult to dream, let alone be in these spaces.
Chadwick Boseman playing T’challa showcased the rich culture and history of Africa as well as instilling pride in many Black people formerly stamped out by racism and erasure in popular culture.
But he was not alone in this important duty. He was helped by an impressive cast and a dedicated team behind the scenes. This project was one of the most important things to impact Black culture and it would be a shame if it ended.
So, the best thing that Marvel can do is honour his legacy by continuing to represent Black people as they have; letting Black storytellers tell our stories, shining a light on important injustices, but also showing our rich achievements and culture.
Image Credits – The MovieDB