Emmys: Chadwick Boseman Earns Posthumous Nod for What If...? Role That Was to Influence Black Panther 2

Nearly two years after his death, Chadwick Boseman earned a posthumous Emmy nod for his voicing of T’Challa in Disney+’s What If…?

Sadder still, the late Jessica Walter is also a nominee for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance , having voiced Archer matriarch Malory for much of Season 12 before passing away in March 2021. (Walter was also posthumously nominated in 2021.)

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The category’s other contenders are F. Murray Abraham (as Moon Knight‘s
Khonshu), Julie Andrews (Bridgerton‘s Lady Whistledown), Maya Rudolph (Big Mouth‘s Connie The Hormone Monstress), Stanley Tucci (Central Park‘s Bitsy) and Jeffrey Wright (What If…?‘s Watcher).

Boseman’s work being honored is especially bittersweet given how he hoped that What If…?‘s quippier take on T’Challa would carry over into the Black Panther sequel he had yet to film.

In the second episode of the Disney+ anthology series, titled “What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?,” Boseman delivered a lighter, more witty take on his MCU character. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige said last summer that Boseman was so “gung ho” about his animated incarnation, there was talk about letting that vibe influence Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (which proceeded without its fallen star and will hit theaters this November).

“We didn’t know it would be his final performance, obviously,” Feige told out sister site Variety. “He came in numerous times… was so gung ho about it, was so excited about it… He read the episode that airs [this week] and then came back and said, ‘I really love this version of T’Challa.’ And we had a conversation after that with [Wakanda Forever writer-director] Ryan [Coogler] about how do we get some of this voice — none of the [alternate reality] storyline — but just some of that voice into Panther 2.”

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