Disney+ Pays Tribute To Chadwick Boseman In New 'Black Panther' Intro

The new 30-second Marvel Studios opening in ‘Black Panther’ is a moving tribute to the late actor

Today, on what would have been Chadwick Boseman‘s 44th birthday, Disney+ pays tribute to the late actor with a new Marvel Studios intro for Black Panther, exclusively on the streaming service. It’s a special tribute teased by Disney Chairman Bob Iger just the day before it debuted on Disney+.

“To all fans of #BlackPanther: watch the film on #DisneyPlus late tonight, for a special tribute to someone that was and will always be near and dear to our hearts,” Iger wrote on Twitter.

The new Marvel Studios opening logo features footage of Boseman from Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame — and fans are loving the moving tribute.

Disney+ debuted a similar tribute — altering the Marvel Studios logo opening of Captain Marvel in 2019 — when Marvel Comics creative leader Stan Lee died in November 2018.

Boseman died Aug. 28 after a long battle with colon cancer. He was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, which happened to be the same year he made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Captain America: Civil War. Since, Disney has paid several other tributes to the beloved, celebrated actor, including via Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute For a King, a documentary that aired on ABC on Aug. 30 and is still available to watch on Disney+.

Disney also honored Chadwick Boseman with a stunning mural at Disneyland showing Boseman at King T’Challa, his character in Black Panther, doing a Wakanda salute next to a young boy wearing a Black Panther mask. The little boy’s shaved head and thin arms seem to indicate that he has cancer, the same disease that took Boseman’s life.

“This one is special,” wrote the artist behind the art installation, Nikkolas Smith. “My King Chad tribute is now on a wall on display at Downtown Disney.”

“It is a full circle moment for me,” continued the former Disney Imagineer. “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.”

Black Panther II is scheduled to open in theaters on May 6, 2022 with returning stars Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Martin Freeman, and Angela Bassett.