Chadwick Boseman‘s untimely demise happened when pre-production of Black Panther 2 was in planning stages. Boseman died at the age of 43 after a four-year fight with the disease . His family has received immense support and love from ‘Marvel Studios’ colleagues and fans, with many paying tribute to the late actor.Only his closest friends and family members were aware about Chadwick’s medical condition. Assumptions were made that Disney and Marvel Studios held some information on the late actor’s conditions but even they were kept isolated by his tragic passing.
In a report of The Hollywood Reporter, Chadwick had kept the facts of his illness to himself and not only his co-actors and directors, but Disney and Marvel Studios too didn’t have any knowledge on this. Everyone was made aware of his condition through an urgent e-mail sent on 28th of August, to Kevin Feige. The mail informed him about the declining health of Boseman. The Hollywood Reporter, also reported from a source close to Boseman that he was “…convinced until about a week before his death that he was going to beat cancer…”
He also planned on to gain his lost weight for the sequel to Black Panther in September in advance of its scheduled March 2021 production start. The report states that with Boseman’ sudden death lots of things will change as Marvel Studios was planning for T’Challa / Black Panther as a character have an integral and interlinked part in multiple upcoming interconnected MCU films. However, Disney has showed its primary focus on respecting and paying tribute to Chadwick Boseman and not on the sequel or the changing plans.
Fans assumed that Disney and Marvel Studios knew about Boseman’s condition with the understanding that actors would have to undergo a medical evaluation for insurance reasons. However, film finance attorney Schuyler Moore, who spoke to the news portal, said that actors, at least for Marvel movies, wouldn’t be be a required to have one , “They are more prevalent in the indie filmmaking world. Sometimes, the big studios will look to insure for a particular actor, but they usually have a particular reason for doing so. Otherwise, studios will just shoulder the risk [of sickness or death].”
The sequel to Black Panther is likely to be delayed now, both out of respect for Chadwick Boseman and for Disney and Marvel Studios to evolve on new plans moving forward after the relevant time has past. For now, fans should hold back postulations about the franchise’s future and simply let there be time to mourn the passing of a great soul and actor. The assumption which many had that all productions go through a medical evaluation for insurance purposes, is not correct.
