Chadwick Boseman won a posthumous Emmy Award on Saturday, receiving the honor for his voiceover work in Marvel’s “What If…?” cartoon on Disney+.
The “Black Panther” actor, who died in August 2020, had reprised his iconic role as T’Challa, aka Black Panther, for several episodes of the animated anthology series, which premiered almost exactly a year after his death. On Saturday, Boseman, a first-time Emmy nominee, was awarded the honor for Outstanding Character Voice-over Performance.
During this weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys ceremony, Boseman’s widow, Taylor Simone Ledward, accepted the award on her husband’s behalf at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater, per The Hollywood Reporter.
In her acceptance speech, Ledward alluded to the theme of “What If,” which explores alternative realities and different fates for various Marvel characters, including Boseman’s.
“What a beautifully aligned moment it really is that one of the last things he would work on would not only be revisiting a character that was so important to him and his career and to the world, but also that it be an exploration of something new, diving into a new potential future — particularly with everything he spoke about purpose and finding the reason that you are here on the planet on this very time,” Ledward said of her late husband.
“You can’t understand your purpose unless you’re willing to ask ‘What if’ ― unless you’re willing to say, ‘What if the universe is conspiring in my favor? What if it’s me?’” she said. “Thank you so much for the honor. Chad would be so honored, and I’m honored on his behalf.”
Boseman, who died of colon cancer at age 43, was also renowned for his roles in films like “42,” “Get on Up,” “Da 5 Bloods” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” for which he received a posthumous Oscar nomination.
His fellow nominees in the Emmy category included F. Murray Abraham (“Moon Knight”), Julie Andrews (“Bridgerton”), Maya Rudolph (“Big Mouth”), Stanley Tucci (“Central Park”), Jessica Walter (“Archer”) and Jeffrey Wright (“What If…?”).
The actor made a lasting impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther,” receiving acclaim for his performance as the king of Wakanda. At the 2019 Academy Awards, Coogler’s blockbuster became the first superhero film ever to be nominated for Best Picture.
The “Black Panther” sequel, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” is slated to hit the big screen in November.
“What If…?” is set to return for a second season in early 2023 on Disney+, the company announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July.
