New 'Black Panther' Opening Credits Honor Chadwick Boseman
Accolades and recognition for the departed Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman is still pouring in, even months after his death. The latest way that the actor has been recognized is with the opening credits for Black Panther on streaming service Disney+.
Variety reports that viewers, who watched Black Panther on Disney+ on the evening of Nov. 29, saw a credit sequence that paid tribute to the actor. Boseman died back in July after a four-year battle with cancer.
As described by Variety, the opening credits take on the usual and iconic Marvel page-turning opening. The images then change to Black Panther concept art, as well as Boseman’s previous appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The publication also says that quotes from the movie are also included in the opening, such as the one where Boseman’s character T’challa calls on the United Nations to build bridges rather than barriers.
The Hollywood Reporter says that Disney chairman Bob Iger gave audiences a heads up about the tribute, tweeting that a “special tribute” would be part of the Black Panther stream to recognize Boseman as someone “near and dear” to everyone’s hearts.
Marvel Studios’ Twitter account also posted the opening credits, captioning it with “Long live the King” and using the hashtag #WakandaForever. That tweet currently has 33,000 retweets and more than 100,000 likes.
The opening credits tribute comes after Boseman was nominated posthumously for best actor at the Gotham Awards. Organized by the Independent Filmmaker Project, the Gotham Awards were also affected by the global coronavirus pandemic and had to be rescheduled to January of next year.
Boseman’s nomination was for his work on Netflix’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, adapted from August Wilson’s 1982 play. He will be competing against Jude Law’s performance in The Nest, Jesse Plemons’s performance in I’m Thinking of Ending Things, and Riz Ahmed’s performance in The Sound of Metal.
At the time of his death, tributes from his Black Panther co-stars also started pouring in. Michael B. Jordan, who played the antagonist Killmonger in Black Panther, said that Boseman paved the way for him and promised to carry on Boseman’s legacy.
Lupita Nyong’o, another Black Panther co-star, praised Boseman’s “immortal energy” and described him as a man who had “great hope” and was “ageless.” Nyong’o also posted a black and white photo of her with Boseman on her Instagram account.
Nyong’o, Jordan, and another Black Panther co-star, Winston Duke, were also in attendance during a private memorial for Boseman.