Chadwick Boseman wins posthumous Emmy for voicing Star Lord T’Challa in Marvel web series What If

Over two years after his death, late actor Chadwick Boseman has won the prestigious Emmy Award for his final performance. On Saturday night, Chadwick was posthumously awarded the Creative Arts Emmy award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for voicing his iconic character–T’Challa – in the Marvel web series What If…? Also read: ‘Chadwick Boseman knew it could be his last performance as T’Challa’

Chadwick Boseman portrayed a variant of his popular character in the episode What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord? which explored a timeline where the Wakandan prince was abducted by Ravagers and grew up to be the space outlaw named Star Lord, instead of becoming the Black Panther. What If is an animated series from Marvel Studios. The first season premiered on Disney+ worldwide between August and October 2021, and was a big success. Season 2 is awaited in early 2023.

Marvel Entertainment reacted to Chadwick’s win. “Thank you to the Television Academy for recognizing the outstanding work of our King, the late Chadwick Boseman. #Emmys,” their official account tweet, along with a picture of the character for which the late actor won. Chadwick beat several heavyweight performers in the category, including What If co-star Jeffrey Wright, Archer’s Jessica Walter, Moon Knight’s F Murray Abraham, Bridgerton’s Julie Andrews, Big Mouths Maya Rudolph, and Central Park’s Stanley Tucci.

Chadwick died in August 2020 after battling colon cancer, a condition that he kept private for a long time. He earned a posthumous Oscar nomination the same year for his work in his final film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and a posthumous Screen Actor’s Guild award and Golden Globe for the same film.

Chadwick began acting in the early 2000s, but his breakthrough came with the sports biopic 42 (2013), where he played legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson. He achieved mainstream popularity after being cast as T’Challa aka Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He played the role in Captain America: Civil War (2016), Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War (both 2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).