Last night saw the 54th NAACP Image Awards take place in downtown Los Angeles, with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever going in leading the motion picture categories with 12 nominations. It went on to win the trophies for Outstanding Ensemble Cast, Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation, Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album (for Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up”), and Outstanding Hairstyling.
The most touching moment by far came when Ruth Carter took the stage to accept the Outstanding Costumes award for her work Wakanda Forever, where she paid tribute to the much-missed Chadwick Boseman.
“I accept this award for so many people who touched those costumes in Wakanda Forever, all of the art that went into making it, all of the love, but especially in honor of the late great Chadwick Boseman. I dedicate this to him because it was because of him that we came together and we mourned, we celebrated his life, we had intention when we made this film and we all have him to thank not only for the motivation in Wakanda Forever but also for the first Black Panther.”
Boseman’s death cast an enormous shadow over Wakanda Forever, from the very first scene featuring T’Challa death and funeral to the characters spending much of the movie struggling to figure out how to move on without him. That’s almost certainly a reflection of what went on behind the scenes when the tragic news first broke.
However, as hinted by the title, Wakanda is bigger than one man. Shuri will continue to grow into her role as the MCU’s new Black Panther and will likely become part of a future Avengers team, and we’ll continue to explore this fascinating corner of the Marvel universe in upcoming Disney Plus show Kingdom of Wakanda.
This is Boseman’s MCU legacy, we just wish he was here to see it blossom.