190113 Chadwick Boseman
Chadwick Boseman Image Credit: The New York Times

Since the news of Hollywood star Chadwick Boseman’s death broke over the weekend, devastating fans around the world, much has been said about his posthumous on-screen appearances. And it increasingly looks like his final appearance will be as his ‘Black Panther’ character T’Challa.

The actor is said to have filmed a number of movies since his diagnosis of colon cancer in 2016, a number of which we’ve already see hit theatres, including ‘Marshall’, ‘Black Panther’, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, ‘Avengers: Endgame’, ‘21 Bridges’ and ‘Da 5 Bloods’.

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A film that we’re yet to see is ‘Ma Rainy’s Black Bottom’, a Netflix adaptation of a play of the same name, featuring Viola Davis as the titular Ma Rainey. Boseman plays Levee, a talented but troubled trumpet player.

A virtual preview event for the movie set for Monday this week was delayed to pay respects to the late actor, and the movie is set to drop on Netflix before the end of 2020.

All of this. of course, sets the stage for the fact that Boseman’s final role will be in the Disney+ animated show ‘What If...?’, set to release sometime in 2021.

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‘What If...?’ is an upcoming animated anthology series created for Disney+ by AC Bradley, based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. It explores what would happen if major moments from the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe occurred differently.

However, Boseman — although playing T’Challa — will not actually become Black Panther. The series episode will explore an alternate reality where T’Challa, instead of Peter Quill, gets abducted by the Ravagers, seeing him become Star Lord and the self-appointed leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

There is no set release date for ‘What If..?’ as yet.