Chadwick Boseman inspired Erik Killmonger's iconic monologue at the end of 'Black Panther'

The director of Chadwick Boseman's iconic film Black Panther, Ryan Coogler penned a moving tribute to the actor in an international publication, Los Angeles Times. In his tribute, the director revealed that Chadwick Boseman was the one who suggested one of the most iconic scenes of the film. The late actor added depth to the scene where the fictional supervillain, Erik Killmonger, dies towards the end of the film. Chadwick Boseman who played the character of King T'Challa in Marvel Studios film Black Panther passed away on August 29. The actor died at the age of 43 years after battling colon cancer for four years. His death came as a shock for people across the globe as his cancer diagnosis was not public knowledge.

In the tribute published in the LA Times, Ryan Coogler wrote, "While filming the movie, we would meet at the office or at my rental home in Atlanta, to discuss lines and different ways to add depth to each scene. We talked costumes, military practices. He said to me, ‘Wakandans have to dance during the coronations. If they just stand there with spears, what separates them from Romans?'"

A Tribute to Black Panther

According to the director, in the early drafts of the script, the Black Panther villain, Erik Killmonger asked T'Challa to be buried in Wakanda but Chadwick Boseman questioned it. "What if Erik Killmonger asked to be buried somewhere else?" asked Boseman according to Ryan Coogler's tribute in LA times. The scene was then changed and it eventually became more relevant after the Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum.

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In the scene, following the battle between Black Panther and Erik Killmonger the two watch the sunset from the mountains in Wakanda. King T'Challa then suggests that scientists can heal him and save him. The supervillain, Erik Killmonger refuses and says, "Why, so you can just lock me up? Nah. Just bury me in the ocean with my ancestors that jumped from ships, 'cause they knew death was better than bondage."

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Chadwick Boseman's career

Chadwick Boseman began his career in 2003 with an episode of Third Watch. He also worked in numerous other series including Law & Order, CSI: NY, and ER. Chadwick Boseman landed a role the series Lincoln Heights in 2008 and also did his first feature film, The Express: The Ernie Davis Story, in the same year. Chadwick also played a role in Persons Unknown in 2010. Chadwick Boseman gained popularity after he played the role of Jackie Robinson in the film 42 in 2013. He also starred in numerous other films like The Kill Hole, Draft Day, Get on Up and Gods of Egypt. 

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Chadwick Boseman's real shot to fame came when he played the character of T'Challa, also known as Black Panther, of Marvel Comics. He signed a 5 picture deal with Marvel which kickstarted with Captain America: Civil War as the first film. In 2018, the film Black Panther was released which was based on Chadwick Boseman's character T'Challa/Black Panther and his country Wakanda, Africa. Chadwick played Black Panther in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame as well. All three films ended up being the highest-grossing films. In 2019, Chadwick starred in another film titled 21 Bridges. Chadwick Boseman was last seen in a Netflix film Da 5 Bloods which was released on the OTT platform in June 2020.

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