Counted among Marvel’s 19 Emmy nominations is one dear to the studio’s heart. Comicbook reports the late Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther, 42) earned posthumous nomination for his work on the animated Disney+ series, What If…? The voice work was among some of Boesman’s final work prior to his passing in 2020.
In What If…? Boseman returned as T’Challa, the prince and heir to the throne of Wakanda. But in this alternate universe’s scenario, the young child was mistakenly kidnapped by galaxy pirates and grows up to become that universe’s Star-Lord. In the episode, T’Challa as Star-Lord is a compassionate crusader who prevents Thanos from attempting to genocide the galaxy and makes an ally out of a free Nebula.
According to Comicbook, Boseman is nominated for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance along with stellar lineup of potential winners. They include another posthumous nominee, Jessica Walter (Arrested Development), as Archer’s Malory Archer; Jeffery Wright (Westworld) as The Watcher in ‘What If…?;’ Stanely Tucci (Supernova) as Central Park‘s Bitsy Brandenham; F. Murray Abraham’s (Mythic Quest) Khonshu for Disney+’s Moon Knight; Big Mouth’s Connie the Hormone Monster played by Maya Rudolph (Loot) and, Julie Andrews (The Princess Diaries) as Bridgerton’s faceless narrator.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Fiege shared sentiments regarding Boseman’s performance in an interview with Variety last year.
“We didn’t know it would be his final performance obviously,” Feige stated via Comicbook. “He came in numerous times, was so gung ho about it, was so excited about it…He read the episode that airs 24 hours from now and then came back and said ‘I really love this version of T’Challa.’ And we had a conversation after that with Ryan about ‘How do we get some of this voice,’ none of the storyline, but just some of that voice into Panther 2. Now of course it’s remarkably sad and bittersweet, but I’m very happy we have it and I’m very happy he did it for us. I’m excited for the fans to see that as well.”
As the nomination news spread across social media, fans Tweeted their reactions with heartfelt messages.
Boseman passed in August of 2020 after silent battle with colon cancer. His final live-action performance was the Oscar-nominated role of Levee Green in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
The 2022 Emmys will air Monday, September 12 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on NBC.