It’s been two and a half years since Chadwick Boseman tragically passed away. Colon cancer claimed his life, a battle he was fighting for years without anyone’s knowledge.
Through that time, and prior to his diagnosis, the legendary actor took on a few iconic roles. In terms of sheer volume of iconic and fitting characters, no actor has had more than Boseman.
On and off the screen, the Black Panther star was a legend. He inspired many in different ways and the word tragedy doesn’t begin to do his passing justice. From T’Challa to Thurgood Marshall, Boseman’s filmography is filled to the brim with incredible performances.
While his life and acting career were cut short, his filmography certainly isn’t lacking for excellence.
Chadwick Boseman acting: The best on-screen appearances for the late actor
Boseman’s first role came in All My Children in 2003. His first big role came in Persons Unknown in 2010. In 2013, the world at large was introduced to Boseman’s talents in 42, the story of the legendary Jackie Robinson.
Coincidentally, that’s still one of the actor’s best performances yet. It is a huge undertaking to play someone who lived a real life. It’s even harder to portray someone as important and legendary as Robinson.
Boseman, despite being fairly inexperienced at the time, stepped into the role with confidence and delivered an exceptional performance. The world saw the Jackie Robinson story through Robinson’s own eyes.
He instilled in his character the struggles Robinson undoubtedly went through. The anger, the frustration, the disappointment and everything the star baseball player went through was palpable on screen.
It’s very possible that he doesn’t land other iconic roles without acing Jackie Robinson, so it was a monumental film for a lot of reasons. 42 was a good movie, but it almost certainly wouldn’t have been with a different actor standing in Robinson’s cleats.
Black Panther: A role Chadwick Boseman was born for
Chadwick Boseman appeared on screen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. He portrayed the Black Panther and a character who was suddenly forced to lead his country after his father’s murder.
Boseman’s T’Challa was arguably the best and most interesting character in what amounted to a psuedo-Avengers film. Acting alongside Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Chris Evans and others, that’s no small feat.
He went on to star in his own film, titled after T’Challa’s alter ego the Black Panther. The film was a critical and commercial success, showing studios and audiences alike that black superheroes were not only interesting, but they were profitable, too.
Boseman played T’Challa with the regality of a lifelong monarch and inspired the world in the process. He reappeared as the character in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers Endgame. It’s an absolute shame he wasn’t able to star in the sequel, though Ryan Coogler and company did a tremendous job honoring him with the movie.
His final acting credit came from the Marvel show What If…? which revisited Marvel storylines where one thing was different. Fittingly, he voiced T’Challa one more time as his final appearance on a screen.
Chadwick Boseman acting in iconic films is nothing new
If those two roles weren’t enough, Boseman also played the legendary Thurgood Marshall in Marshall from 2017. Yet another real life hero whose story was translated to the big screen with grace and passion thanks to Boseman.
In 2014, fresh off the success of 42, Chadwick Boseman once again stepped into someone’s real life shoes. He portrayed James Brown in Get On Up and received praise from critics and audiences alike.
Da 5 Bloods from Spike Lee isn’t a true story, but it’s one rooted in the reality of what happened to black soldiers in Vietnam. Boseman’s performance received praise as they usually do.
In his final live action role, Boseman graced the screen for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, a role he was nominated for Best Actor for. He ultimately lost the posthumous award to Anthony Hopkins.
Boseman also appeared in movies such as 21 Bridges, Message from the King, Gods of Egypt and Draft Day. His filmography is admittedly small, undoubtedly missing more iconic roles he would have suited up for had he not passed away.
It’s sad to think about what roles he might have landed and what movies he would have improved with his presence.
However, what it lacks in size it makes up for in power. These roles are a lifetime’s worth of legendary characters and Boseman was able to portray them all in a 10-year run.
Chadwick Boseman acting will be remembered forever. This is partially due to his tragic passing, but mostly due to the fact that he played iconic roles with perfection. What’s perhaps even more impressive is that as great as he was on-screen, he was just as good if not better off of it.