New York: Footage from a promotional event for Black Panther gained new poignancy Saturday following the death of star Chadwick Boseman from cancer, age 43.
Boseman became emotional during a SiriusXM Town Hall hosted by Sway Calloway in February 2018 as he discussed his relationship with two young Marvel fans who had terminal cancer and his regret that they died before being able to see the "Black Panther."
It's now known that at the time Boseman was privately undergoing "countless surgeries and chemotherapy" to battle colon cancer. He'd been diagnosed at stage 3 in 2016 but never spoke publicly about it.
"There are two little kids, Ian and Taylor, who recently passed from cancer," said Boseman at the 2018 event.
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"Throughout our filming, I was communicating with them. Knowing that they were both terminal. And what they said to me is, and their parents said, they're just trying to hold on until this movie comes.' And to a certain degree, you hear them say that and you're like, 'wow. That's... Like, I got to get up and go to the gym. I got to get up and go to work. You know, I've got to learn these lines, I've got to work on this accent.'"
Tragically, the young boys died before seeing the movie – a moment that Boseman found difficult to relay.
"When I found out that they…" he said, before breaking down. "Yeah. It means a lot."
Boseman, who played the eponymous Black Panther, T'Challa, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, died at his home in the Los Angeles area with his wife and family by his side, his publicist Nicki Fioravante told The Associated Press.
With inputs from APTN
