It has almost been a month since the passing of the late Chadwick Boseman. In honour of the man who famously donned the mantle of Black Panther, Disneyland unveiled a special mural depicting the 43-year-old American actor in the Downtown Disney District at Disneyland California in Anaheim.
The mural, done up by artist Nikkolas Smith, beautifully depicts Boseman performing the iconic Wakanda salute, alongside a child wearing a Black Panther mask.
“This one is special. My King Chad tribute is now on a wall on display at Downtown Disney,” wrote Smith on an emotional post on Instagram. “It is a full circle moment for me: my final two projects as a Disney Imagineer last summer were working on the children’s hospital project and the Avengers Campus.”
“To millions of kids, T’Challa was a legend larger than life, and there was no one more worthy to fill those shoes than Chadwick Boseman. I’m so thankful to be able to honor Chadwick’s life and purpose in this way.
I am grateful to the Disney family for being so supportive of my journey as an artist.
Chadwick Boseman succumbed to a four-year battle with cancer on 28 August 2020. During that period, he was still very much active in the entertainment industry, having filmed the likes of Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, and most recently Da 5 Bloods in 2020.
Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.