Black Panther Co-Star Michael B. Jordan Addresses Chadwick Boseman's Oscar Snub
In the final moments of last weekend's Academy Awards broadcast, Anthony Hopkins scored the Best [...]
In the final moments of last weekend's Academy Awards broadcast, Anthony Hopkins scored the Best Actor trophy, but since he was not present, last year's winner Joaquin Phoenix accepted hit on Hopkins's behalf and the credits rolled virtually immediately. Fans immediately took to social media to complain that Chadwick Boseman, who had been nominated for his role in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, had been robbed. During an interview in support of his new film Without Remorse, Michael B. Jordan -- who played opposite Boseman in Black Panther -- was quizzed on the question, and said that, ultimately, it doesn't matter much.
Jordan, in an interview with Sirius XM's Jess Cagle, admitted that he was disappointed Boseman did not win the award, but maintained that it was important to have perspective on the issue. There was no single award that was going to be able to validate or invalidate Boseman's legacy, Jordan said.
"This is how I honestly and truly really feel about it: There's like, there's no award that can validate his legacy," Jordan said. "There's no win that can take anything away from the lives around the world that he impacted. So you've got to look at the things that we can control and the gifts and the blessings that he left us, and that's this incredible body of work and what he represents for as a person and as the biggest one we could really ask for."
The plans for Black Panther II, which will go into production next year in spite of the loss of Boseman to cancer in 2020, are still shrouded in mystery. Jordan has been quizzed about the possibility of his involvement, since even though his character of Killmonger passed away at the end of the first movie, he's still a fan-favorite antagonist and a huge star in his own right. So far, the Creed star has remained mum on the issue, although that could mean just about anything with a company as secretive as Marvel. Jordan is expected to direct Creed III, which will go into production in late 2021 or 2022.
Both the studio and fans are now looking at Black Panther II as a potential tribute to the late Boseman, whose work as the Marvel hero took a remarkable career and elevated it to a level where film buffs and fanboys will still be talking about him for decades to come.