Remembering Chadwick Boseman
Chadwick Boseman’s recent death from cancer shocked the world as his condition had been kept a secret until after he had passed. What remains is a filmography of strong performances and many questions of what could have been. While Boseman was 43 years old, his film career was relatively young, and his sudden passing has echoes of Anton Yelchin’s death in 2016, leaving a lingering sense of potential unfulfilled. Boseman’s future as a performer was undoubtedly bright, but his past work is nothing to scoff at either.
Boseman’s professional debut was a recurring guest spot on the soap-opera “All My Children” in 2003 and he continued to do minor guest roles in a variety of lousy network dramas like “Law & Order”, “CSI: New York”, “ER”, “Castle”, and others. His big break came in the 2013 sports drama “42”, about the life and career of Jackie Robinson. While Boseman doesn’t resemble Robinson very much in terms of his appearance or his voice (Robinson’s voice was famously high-pitched and nasally), Boseman’s performance does not deal with Robinson the man, but Robinson the mythological figure. He grants Robinson the kind of gravitas and heroic qualities he deserves as a preeminent figure and symbol in the American consciousness.
Boseman went on to star in another biopic as James Brown (Get on Up) as well a a few less-memorable films until his 2nd star turn as the Black Panther in “Captain America: Civil War”. I have long considered “Civil War” to be a hot mess, but Boseman again delivers an excellent performance that stands as one of the highlights of the film. Though his role is limited, his performance is one of the best in the movie as he takes T’Challa from the quintessential Angry Young Man hellbent on revenge, to an intelligent and more measured superhero who is able to see past his own anger and solve the plot plaguing the Avengers throughout the film while Iron Man and Captain America find more and more outlandish excuses to beat each other up. His roles in future Avengers movies would be limited due to their ensemble nature, but Boseman was given the chance to shine in the “Black Panther” solo movie, which turned him into something of an icon. While plagued by lousy CGI and uninspired action sequences, Black Panther remains the best written and one of the better directed Marvel vehicles. Boseman’s performance is again excellent. T’Challa is a very stern and self-serious character belonging to a techno utopia that is very alien compared to many of the other Marvel superheroes, and Boseman manages to inject him with not only the necessary gravitas but the warmth, humor, and humanity that a lesser performer might neglect, helping audiences embrace him as a hero.
Boseman’s last performance to be seen before his passing was in Spike Lee’s Vietnam dramedy “Da 5 Bloods”. We discussed this film at length in Episode 18 of the Under the Wheels Podcast, but it is worth reiterating that Boseman is once again excellent. His character is both an obedient soldier and a radical revolutionary, and his imprint is felt across the events of the movie as his memory drives the actions of the main characters. Boseman’s performance goes a long way to sell the audience on exactly why his character is so important to the film’s protagonists.
Had Boseman lived to continue his career, I would have loved to see him tackle more complex, difficult, and nuanced roles. However it is undeniable that the man had a talent for transforming the characters he did play into heroes of mythic proportions. There are a litany of biopics, superhero films, and prestige dramas where characters are meant to be larger than life but fall flat. Not with Boseman. From Jackie Robinson, to the Black Panther, to “Stormin” Norman Holloway, Boseman has created characters that are more than mere men. He has created true heroes, whose words and deeds transform the people and the world around them for the better, not just in the movies, but in life as well. And that is one hell of a talent to have.
