‘Long live the King’: ‘Black Panther’ star Chadwick Boseman honoured on what would have been his 44th birthday

Fans, family, friends and his Marvel castmates shared touching tributes to celebrate the late star's November 29 birthday

Tributes were paid to actor Chadwick Boseman on what would have been his 44th birthday. He died  from colon cancer on August 28, 2020. EPA

Chadwick Boseman's untimely death from colon cancer on August 28, at the age of 43, left his family, Marvel castmates and fans across the globe heartbroken.

Marvel, the studio behind Black Panther and the smash-hit Avengers films, honoured the late actor on what would have been his 44th birthday on November 29.

Disney’s executive chairman, Bob Iger, took to Twitter to tell fans about the homage to the late A-list actor, writing: "To all fans of #BlackPanther: watch the film on #DisneyPlus late tonight, for a special tribute to someone that was and will always be near and dear to our hearts."

But for fans who don’t subscribe to Disney+, Marvel shared the homage on Twitter, writing of the man who played King T’Challa: "Long live the King. #WakandaForever."

The tribute featured a montage of some of Boseman's finest moments from Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther, along with a quote from King T'Challa: "In times of crisis, the wise build bridges while the foolish build barriers."

Stars pay tribute

The homage follows news that Boseman's King T'Challa will not appear in CGI form in the Black Panther sequel, slated for release in May 2022.

"There's only one Chadwick and he's not with us ... our king, unfortunately, has died in real life, not just in fiction, and we are taking a little time to see how we return to history and what we do to honour this chapter of what has happened to us that was so unexpected, so painful, so terrible, really," Marvel Studios executive vice president of Production, Victoria Alonso, told news outlet Clarin.

Tributes poured in for the respected and much-loved actor, who kept silent about his four-year battle with cancer.

“Chadwick Boseman would have turned 44 years old today,” wrote rapper and actor Common on Twitter. “Happy Birthday King. God bless you. Thank you for using your gift to bring light to this world. RIP.”

Boseman's Black Panther co-star Lupita Nyong'o wrote, "Deeply loved, sorely missed", while Mark Ruffalo, who plays the Hulk in the Avengers franchise, shared a touching video of the cast and crew of Avengers: Endgame singing happy birthday to the actor on set.

“Thinking of your passion, love and your light today,” he wrote. “Happy birthday, wishing we could travel back to this moment.”

Last month, Boseman's brother Derrick spoke to The New York Times about the actor's last days, sharing that his brother told him: "'Man, I'm in the fourth quarter, and I need you to get me out of the game'.

“When he told me that, I changed my prayer from: ‘God heal him, God save him,’ to ‘God, let your will be done.’ And the next day he passed away.”

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