No one at Disney knew Chadwick Boseman was sick before his death

Fans of actor Chadwick Boseman are still reeling from news of his death. As it ends up, his colleagues at Disney are in much the same boat.

Last week, we learned that Chadwick Boseman, star of movies like Get on Up and the hugely successful Black Panther, had died at the age of 43 from colon cancer. The news came as a huge blow, not just because the actor was beloved by fans and colleagues alike, but because so few people knew he was even sick.

That included the folks at Disney. Sources close to Boseman told The Hollywood Reporter that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, the architect of the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe, only found out about Boseman’s condition on the day he died. Apparently, a star on a movie this big would not have had a medical screening for insurance purposes, particularly a star as young as Boseman.

The only people outside of Boseman’s family to know of his illness were his agent, his trainer, his producing partner Logan Coles, and 42 director Brian Helgeland. Heartbreakingly, THR reports that Boseman believed he was going to beat his cancer until about a week before his death, and thought he could regain the weight he would need to shoot Black Panther 2 when it was scheduled to go into production next March. But then, things took a turn for the worse.

Many have wondered where this leaves the Black Panther franchise, but for now, Disney is making like the rest of us and mourning the loss of an actor who had a long career ahead of him.

A 20/20 special about Boseman, “A Tribute for a King,” is now available to watch on Disney+.

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