Chadwick Boseman wins posthumous Emmy for voicing T'Challa in What If...?

Chadwick Boseman has won a posthumous Emmy Award for his final performance as T'Challa.

During this weekend's Creative Arts Emmys ceremony, the Black Panther actor won the award for outstanding character voice-over performance for his role in Marvel's animated What If…? series.

Boseman died in August 2020 of colon cancer at age 43, and before his death, he reprised his Black Panther role for What If…?, voicing an alternate-universe version of T'Challa. Instead of following T'Challa as he becomes the Black Panther and future king of Wakanda, the show imagines a world where Boseman's hero winds up in outer space, eventually taking up the mantle of Star-Lord.

Kevin Mazur/Getty Chadwick Boseman

Boseman's wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, was at the ceremony to accept the Emmy, telling the audience, "Chad would be so honored, and I'm honored on his behalf."

"When I learned that Chad was nominated for this award, I started thinking about everything that was going on when he was recording — everything that was going on in the world and in our world and just being in such awe of his commitment and his dedication," Ledward said, per The Hollywood Reporter.

"And what a beautifully aligned moment it really is that one of the last things he would work on would not only be revisiting a character that was so important to him and his career and to the world, but also that it be an exploration of something new, diving into a new potential future."

Ledward added that her husband's win for What If…? was particularly meaningful, given how much Boseman loved playing T'Challa and how the show is about "finding the reason that you are here on the planet."

"You can't understand your purpose unless you're willing to ask, 'What if,' unless you're willing to say, 'What if the universe is conspiring in my favor, what if it's me?'" she explained.

Boseman beat out fellow nominees F. Murray Abraham (Moon Knight), Julie Andrews (Bridgerton), Maya Rudolph (Big Mouth), Stanley Tucci (Central Park), Jeffrey Wright (also for What If…?), and the late Jessica Walter (Archer).

What If…? head writer A.C. Bradley previously told EW that Boseman was deeply involved in the show's portrayal of T'Challa, offering notes on scripts and storylines. "He cared about T'Challa so much," Bradley said at the time. "All the actors care about these characters, but Chadwick Boseman understood the power of Black Panther and his role as an icon."

Related content:

• Chadwick Boseman and Jessica Walter get posthumous Emmy nominations for voiceover work

• Marvel's What If…? team previews Chadwick Boseman's final MCU appearance as T'Challa

• 2022 Creative Arts Emmys: See full winners list