'Long Live The King:' Stunning mural honoring Chadwick Boseman unveiled at Downtown Disney
A mural dedicated to Chadwick Boseman was unveiled at Downtown Disney in Anaheim, California Thursday.
In a post to Instagram, the Walt Disney Imagineering team said the art installation, titled "King Chad," was done by artist Nikkolas Smith in honor of the late actor, who died of cancer at 43 last month.
In the mural, Boseman is depicted looking at a child in a "Black Panther" mask. Both are crossing their arms, a style of salute shown in the movie.
According to the post, an inscription from Smith on the mural reads: “As a former Disney Imagineer, I had the honor of working on a major children's hospital initiative and Avengers Campus as my final two assignments. Seeing Chadwick's heart for people in-person, and later discovering his courageous battle with cancer, I was inspired to create this tribute to honor his life and legacy. To us, he was and will always be T'Challa. Long Live The King.”
A post shared by Walt Disney Imagineering (@waltdisneyimagineering) on Sep 24, 2020 at 10:39am PDT
In a post to his own Instagram, Smith shared more photos of the unveiling, writing this mural is "special."
"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," he continued. "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."
Boseman made a global impact bringing "Black Panther" to life in the Marvel Cinematic Universe along with playing Black icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown on the silver screen.
His road to superstardom began in 2016 with a cameo as T'Challa, a young Wakandan prince (later king) and heroic warrior, in Marvel's "Captain America: Civil War." Two years later, he headlined the blockbuster "Black Panther," a movie that caused a movement throughout the world as Black men and women, boys and girls, took to heart its hero and the cross-armed "Wakanda Forever" salute.
Contributing: Andrea Mandell, Brian Truitt and Bryan Alexander
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chadwick Boseman: Stunning tribute mural unveiled at Downtown Disney
