Avengers: Endgame Directors Pay Tribute to Late Black Panther Star Chadwick Boseman

Avengers: Endgame‘s directors paid tribute to Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman at a Collider CCXP panel. The star has been the recipient of a ton of love after the first birthday since his tragic passing. Joe and Anthony Russo worked with the actor on numerous projects and loved his spirit. But, the filmmakers say that his commitment to the craft was even more remarkable. Boseman was a performer who was always thinking about how to drive this character forward or make T’Challa more immersive for the audience. You cannot argue with the performance of Black Panther as the packed theaters showed just how much the film connected with those in the seats. Now, Boseman is gone, but his impact will be felt for years to come. The Russos know that firsthand and are just grateful to have been there.

“Even among actors who are at the top of their craft, he stood out in his dedication to what he was doing..his level of commitment to the character, it consumes every layer of his being,” Anthony Russo began.”This is a very simple detail, but early on when we were shooting Civil War which was his first performance as Black Panther, it was very difficult working with him to find the specific African accent, the specific version of Africa that we were trying to craft into the fictional Wakanda. And once he cracked that character and found that accent, he stayed in that accent through the entire shoot even when he was off-camera.”

“He would only speak in that manner as T’Challa. I think that just speaks to the fact of how deeply he had built that character and how he had to hold onto that character through the entire process in order to perform it,” he continued. “It’s just incredibly admirable when you find somebody who puts that level of their being and their focus and their entire effort into what they’re doing, and it translates to the screen. You feel something different when you watch him perform, not just as T’Challa but in all the roles. He was an incredible inspiration, an incredible human being, just the height of professionalism and artistry. We’re so grateful for our time with him.”

“He had incredible integrity. He was a very thoughtful, artistic, elegant human being that was just a pleasure to be around and a pleasure to work with. As Anth said, not only was he an actor he was a filmmaker. He understood filmmaking. He understood storytelling,” Joe Russo quickly added. “I think the thing that’s most important to stress was the people who worked with him over the last six years on several projects, was what he did and the way that he dealt with his illness was so brave and exemplified such integrity because he put aside any sort of personal agenda for what he knew was a real historical moment in time in respect to what Black Panther meant to people. I don’t think he wanted his illness to become the story. He wanted Black Panther and this all-black cast to be the story. And that’s one of the bravest things that we’ve seen anyone do, that we’ve dealt with on a personal level.”

What tribute to the Black Panther would you like to see next? Let us know down in the comments!