Black Panther Star Chadwick Boseman Wins Posthumous Emmy for What If...?

The late great Chadwick Boseman has just been honored with a posthumous Emmy Award for his performance as not-quite-Black Panther in the animated What If...? series on Disney+.

The late Black Panther star won the Outstanding Character Voice-over Performance category at the Emmy's Creative Arts ceremony on Saturday, September 3, 2022. Chadwick Boseman was praised for his performance as Star-Lord T’Challa in the episode What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord? of the Marvel anthology series. The award marked both Boseman’s first win and first Emmy nomination.

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Boseman's widow Taylor Simone Ledward accepted the award on his behalf.

“When I learned that Chad was nominated for this award, I started thinking about everything that was going on when he was recording — everything that was going on in the world and in our world and just being in such awe of his commitment and his dedication,” Ledward said.

“And what a beautifully aligned moment it really is that one of the last things he would work on would not only be revisiting a character that was so important to him and his career and to the world, but also that it be an exploration of something new, diving into a new potential future — particularly with everything he spoke about purpose and finding the reason that you are here on the planet on this very time,” she continued. “You can’t understand your purpose unless you’re willing to ask, ‘What if,’ unless you’re willing to say, ‘What if the universe is conspiring in my favor, what if it’s me?'”

“Thank you so much for the honor — Chad would be so honored, and I’m honored on his behalf,” Ledward concluded.

Chadwick Boseman was nominated in the category alongside F. Murray Abraham (Moon Knight), Julie Andrews (Bridgerton), Maya Rudolph (Big Mouth), Stanley Tucci (Central Park), Jessica Walter (Archer) and fellow MCU actor Jeffrey Wright (What If…?).

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will premiere in theaters on November 11, 2022.

Related: Chadwick Boseman's Legacy Celebrated on 2nd Death Anniversary