Chadwick Boseman passes away from Colon Cancer aged 43 - why this is a tragic loss for Hollywood

Some really sad news came out last night that Black Panther himself Chadwick Boseman passed away last night aged 43 from Colon Cancer. It has been revealed that he suffered from this illness for 4 years and filmed some of his roles with it and that shows his character and determination to be the best he can be. He also clearly didn't want this to be public knowledge as it seems apart from his family nobody else in the film community knew of his illness. I am going to look at some of the things to remember him for and what this means for the future. 

Watch 42

This was the first film I ever saw with Boseman in, it sees him play Jackie Robinson, the first black person to play Major League Baseball which obviously makes it an important role. Boseman did a fantastic job in this role and the film is really good highlight of just how great an actor he is, so find this film and give it a watch. 

His role as Black Panther changed the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Easily Boseman's biggest role was as King T'challa AKA Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When he turns up in Captain America: Civil War, he adds so much to that movie and his interactions with the other heroes is great and shows how natural a fit he was in this universe. Then we got to Black Panther, a film that culturally changed the landscape of Cinema, made over a billion dollars and got nominated for 7 Oscars, winning three of them. It is a unique and great film in this universe and it really did a great job in showing how good Boseman did in the role. 

He didn't actually have that many roles

Unfortunately, it seems Boseman actually didn't appear in that much of note in his career, he played iconic roles such as Jackie Robinson, James Brown and Black Panther and did a great job in all of them. But it seems he tried to pick his roles carefully and this meant that we were robbed of seeing him in more films, and now we won't get the chance to see him in more. 

Black Panther should not be recast, at least not for a while

Obviously. Boseman's biggest role was as Black Panther and he was set to reprise his role in the sequel, which obviously won't happen. My hope is that he is not recast in the role as I can't imagine anybody else in the part and it feels wrong. It feels like when Heath Ledger passed away and The Joker was left on the sidelines for 6 years, I kind of hope that happens here. Maybe if they promoted Shuri played by Letitia Wright to take the mantle, I would be okay with that, but Marvel has so many projects that maybe Black Panther 2 should be pushed way back. 

Overall

Overall, Chadwick Boseman was a great actor and seeimingly a really great person and it is truly sad that he has passed away, especially at a young age of 43. But his roles and films will live on and it is clear how much the character of Black Panther changed things in society and that shows just how great that he was.