Chadwick Boseman Honored by Marvel Co-Stars Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle at MTV Movie & TV Awards

Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle paid tribute to Chadwick Boseman at the MTV Movie & TV Awards: [...]

By Cameron Bonomolo

Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle paid tribute to Chadwick Boseman at the MTV Movie & TV Awards: Greatest of All Time special on Sunday, where the Black Panther star was posthumously honored with the "Hero for the Ages" award. Appearing virtually during the 90-minute ceremony aired in lieu of the annual awards show, the Marvel co-stars presented the award given in honor of a star "whose heroism onscreen was only surpassed by the true hero they were offscreen." Boseman was 43 when he died in August after a private four-year battle with colon cancer.

"The second you first saw him on screen or had the opportunity to meet him in person, his energy and intensity was undeniable. There was something different and special about Chadwick Boseman," Downey says in the tribute, which you can watch in full below.

Adds Cheadle, "Each time he stepped on the set, he inspired and influenced everyone there. And with every role, he created a new legion of fans. He had an incredible power to unify people, in their love for his work and their respect for him as a person. The way he lived his life united people behind a higher purpose, and that will be his legacy."

Members of the Avengers "have all been given an opportunity to portray characters that are meaningful and, hopefully, memorable," Downey says, but Boseman "truly embodied what it meant to be a superhero. His impact as a ground-breaking leading man, as an icon on screen, won't be quantified by the box office records he broke, but by the legion of fans who will celebrate him for many years to come."

Cheadle remarks Boseman "will be forever known as the Black Panther," but also as an actor who "painted incredibly powerful portrayals of iconic and influential real men who changed the world," including Thurgood Marshall, James Brown, and Jackie Robinson.

"He brought humanity and truth to the portrayal of people who felt larger than life, and he did it in a way that honored their memories," Cheadle says.

Boseman "wasn't just a hero on-screen," Downey adds. "His list of selfless and inspirational acts and deeds is too long to recount here. Consistently showing up during trial and triumph for family, friends, and fans alike, some of whom were battling the same invisible enemy. He was the most heroic when just being Chad. That's when he was bigger than anyone he played on-screen."

The two Iron Man stars helped welcome Boseman into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, where Boseman's T'Challa of Wakanda fought alongside Team Iron Man as he sought justice for his murdered father T'Chaka (John Kani). After Boseman headlined Ryan Coogler's Black Panther in 2018, he joined Downey and Cheadle again in Avengers: Infinity War that same year and once more in last year's Avengers: Endgame.

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