The death of Chadwick Boseman took so many people by surprise. The actor had never announced that he had spent the last few years fighting cancer and so nobody was quite ready when it was announced he was gone. Since Boseman's death tributes have come from all corners. His colleagues in Hollywood, especially within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, have had a lot to say about the man behind Black Panther, but now Marvel will be extending that tribute to include the comics books that inspired the MCU.
A look at the Marvel Comics website reveals that several new issues, covering a variety of character, not simply Black Panther, will include banners across the top of the cover that remembers the life of Chadwick Boseman, including the words "Rest in Power." Check out an example in this week's issue of Spider-Woman, below.
It shows just how much Chadwick Boseman's performance as Black Panther transcended the films. For so many people Boseman will be the face of the character, and so even within the comics themselves, the place where the character was created before Chadwick Boseman ever wore the mask, it's important to recognize the mark he has left on the entire genre.
This certainly isn't the only tribute to Chadwick Boseman we've seen from Marvel Entertainment. The company released a video tribute on YouTube and we can be almost certain we'll see something whenever the next Marvel movie is finally released. Black Widow is still currently set for November and while there have been rumors it may be delayed again, whenever and however we see it, it seems likely that some sort of tribute will be included, perhaps something similar to what was done in Captain Marvel following the death of Stan Lee.
Marvel Comics were the inspiration for the Marvel Cinematic Universe but now it seems quite clear that the two sides of Marvel are more closely linked than ever. There's clearly a belief that if you read Marvel Comics, that the loss of Chadwick Boseman is something tha't's important to you. Not everybody who goes to see MCU reads comics, but if you read comics, you're almost certainly a fan of the MCU as well.
The future of Black Panther is certainly a question now, one that probably won't have an official answer for some time, but whatever happens with Black Panther as a character, either in comics or on the big screen, Chadwick Boseman will always be T'Challa.
