Chadwick Boseman Believed He Would Beat Cancer And Gain Weight Back For Black Panther A Week Before Passing

Chadwick Boseman’s sudden death has been reverberating around Hollywood for the past few days, as the beloved star of Marvel’s Oscar-winning Black Panther lost his battle to colon cancer at the young age of 43. All corners of Hollywood have spoken up about Chadwick’s impact upon their lives as we’re finally starting to hear more about his final weeks.

Many are shocked by the fact that apparently only a select few even knew that Chadwick had been ill. He kept the information private and was surrounded by his family during his last moments. The world mourns a talent gone too soon, and one that had left indelible marks upon the roles he played and the world he played them in.

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A post shared by Chadwick Boseman (@chadwickboseman) on Aug 28, 2020 at 7:11pm PDT

It’s been a few years since the megahit Marvel’s Black Panther was released into theaters to wide acclaim. The movie heralded a shift in opinion on how “Black” movies are considered to be losses out of the gate. The film, in addition to becoming a financial success, was a pop culture smash. It became the first comic book film to be nominated for Best Picture and make over $1 billion dollars at the box office. Further, it established Chadwick Boseman, who played the titular character, as a household star.

“He was a gentle soul and a brilliant artist, who will stay with us for eternity through his iconic performances over his short yet illustrious career,” Denzel Washington said in his statement. “God bless Chadwick Boseman.”

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A post shared by Black Panther (@blackpanther) on Aug 30, 2020 at 8:20pm PDT

Boseman’s Black Panther director, auteur Ryan Coogler, also released a poignant statement about Chadwick’s passing. The man that lead Coogler’s film to become historic in Hollywood, and one of notoriously few words outside of his movies, gave a stirring tribute to “King T’Challa.”

“I had the privilege of directing scenes of Chad’s character, T’Challa, communicating with the ancestors of Wakanda,” read part of his statement. He ended with, “But it is with a heavy heart and a sense of deep gratitude to have ever been in his presence, that I have to reckon with the fact that Chad is an ancestor now. And I know that he will watch over us, until we meet again.”

Ryan Cooglar, Tribute To Chadwick Boseman

It’s hard to grapple with the fact that Chadwick Boseman is gone yet will always be with us as an ancestor – precisely the type of actions his Black Panther role showed him doing. Now that his presence is so openly missed, thoughts have started to wonder towards who knew what Chadwick was going through and if he had the help and love that he needed, since he decided to keep his diagnosis private.

The Hollywood Reporter has detailed some of the discussions that had been happening around Chadwick’s health. According to the magazine’s sources, “only a handful of non-family members knew that Boseman was sick, including producing partner Logan Coles, longtime agent Michael Greene, trainer Addison Henderson and 42 director Brian Helgeland — with varying degrees of knowledge about the severity of the actor’s condition.”

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A post shared by Chadwick Boseman (@chadwickboseman) on Jul 30, 2019 at 12:59pm PDT

The article also details how even up to the last week, Boseman himself thought that he’d be able to put the weight back on and resume work, convinced that he could beat the cancer diagnosis. The film was set to start pre-production in September, and he intended to be ready.

Even Coogler in his tribute said that he’d been writing the sequel for Boseman to of course embody. It was not to be however, as the article says that even Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige found out an hour before Chadwick’s death the extent of his illness.

Read the full article here.