‘Black Panther’ Star Chadwick Boseman’s Reaction to ‘Green Book’s Win Goes Viral

The 2019 Academy Awards ended with the climatic and moment of Green Book winning the Oscar for Best Picture. That win has sparked a great deal of controversy with film fans, as there were many who didn’t believe director Peter Farrelly made a movie worthy of cinema’s highest honor. Green Book’s win has been even more unpopular with Marvel fans, who wanted the Marvel Cinematic Universe to nab the Best Picture Oscar for Black Panther.

Well, there’s one reaction to Green Book‘s Best Picture win that’s getting more attention than any other: check out the level of shade that Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman throws out, as Green Book is announced as Best Picture winner:

That picture really does say it all – but in case you really, truly, want to appreciate the level of shade work involved in Boseman’s reaction, you really do have to watch the moment in .Gif form:

The controversy over Green Book stems (in large part) from the fact that the film has been heavily criticized for its alleged historical inaccuracies. Specifically, the family of Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) has been continuously slamming Green Book for its portrayal of Shirley and his family relations. The writer of the book the film is based on, Nick Vallelonga (son of Viggo Mortensen’s character, Tony Vallelonga) has countered with the following explanation (via Variety):

“It’s unfortunate to me because I don’t want to hurt the Shirley family in any way. [Don Shirley and Tony Vallelonga] were together a year and a half and they did remain friends. There’s a lot of information [the Shirley family] doesn’t have, and they were hurt that I didn’t speak to them. But to be quite honest with you, Don Shirley himself told me not to speak to anyone. And he only wanted certain parts of his life. He only allowed me to tell what happened on the trip. Since [the family] were not on the trip—this is right out of his mouth—he said, ‘No one else was there but your father and I. We’ve told you.’ And he approved what I put in and didn’t put in. So obviously, to say I didn’t contact them, that was hard for me because I didn’t want to betray what I promised him [Dr. Shirley].”

When it comes to the cast of Black Panther, it’s not hard to see why the disappoint would be felt. While Green Book presented a timely picture of two very different Americans overcoming differences to forge a friendship, Black Panther was a milestone achievement, turning a vision of a noble, proud, and powerful African culture into a superhero blockbuster that conquered the box office like few before it. While Chadwick Boseman and his castmates have been able stand with heads held high, Green Book put Mahershala Ali in a place of timid half-apology when accepting his own Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Green Book.

Still, the Marvel Cinematic Universe just won its first Oscars, so there’s definitely a lot to celebrate, nonetheless.

Avengers: Infinity War is now available on home video. Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8th, Avengers: Endgame on April 26th, and Spider-Man: Far From Homeon July 5th.

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