What If…? Creators Share Heartwarming Stories About Working With Chadwick Boseman

Later this month marks one year since Chadwick Boseman‘s passing. The Oscar-nominated actor became a household name because of his portrayal of T’Challa in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the Black Panther role is also his last work that will be released. Boseman lent his voice to an animated version of the character for Marvel’s What If…?, premiering on Disney+ on Wednesday.

With What If…? creators AC Bradley and Bryan Andrews on the press tour for the series this week, both recounted working with the late superstar.

“What impressed me most about Chadwick Boseman is that all the Marvel actors care about their characters,” Bradley recently told THR. “They’ve been playing these roles for a long time in multiple movies and now TV shows. So they know who these characters are and why they tick. Chadwick Boseman understood the importance of Black Panther. He understood how important it is that young people see a Black man standing shoulder to shoulder with Captain America and Thor Odinson, so that they know a Black man saves the world just the same as anyone else.”

Bradley then went on to compliment Boseman’s working in the voice booth, saying he brought far more than his A-game to the role.

“He came in to record, and I joked that he didn’t bring his A-game; he brought every damn sport there is,” the writer added. “He made sure that this was going to be the episode that shined, but we did not realize why. And the world is a little sadder for it.”

While Boseman was able to record in-studio for his primary episode, the character pops up in further episodes in supporting roles. Andrews added Boseman’s later episodes were recorded via Zoom because of the ongoing global pandemic.

“Those records were over Zoom calls, and in the last record, when we were done, I, selfishly, was able to tell him how much I personally thought of him and how great it was to work with him and how much we all appreciate him and his work,” the director said.

He added, “He touched his heart and he was very thankful, but we had no idea he was going through what he was going through. So it was nice to be able to express our gratitude, and he at least knew that we were insanely thankful for what he was bringing to the project and how important we thought it was. And I think he felt that, too.”

Marvel’s What If…? is set for release on Disney+ beginning August 11th.

What What If… storylines do you hope to see in the series? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!

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