After news spread late Friday that Chadwick Boseman had died, prominent figures across entertainment, politics, and sports took to social media to express their respect for the talented actor who had a knack for playing larger-than-life characters.
Martin Luther King III, a human-rights activist and the eldest son of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, was quick to point out the meaningful roles Boseman took on tweeting, "Chadwick Boseman brought history to life on the silver screen, from Jackie Robinson, James Brown and Thurgood Marshall."
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden expressed similar sentiments.
Senator Kamala Harris and Joe Biden's running mate tweeted, "Heartbroken. My friend and fellow Bison Chadwick Boseman was brilliant, kind, learned, and humble. He left too early but his life made a difference. Sending my sincere condolences to his family."
On Instagram, former president Barack Obama shared a memory of Boseman visiting the White House to play with children around the time his film 42, about the life of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, was released . "To be young, gifted, and Black;" wrote Obama. "To use that power to give them heroes to look up to; to do it all while in pain – what a use of his years."
Boseman's friends from the Marvel universe chimed in to mourn their fellow superhero. Mark Ruffalo, who portrayed The Hulk, wrote, "What a man, and what an immense talent. Brother, you were one of the all time greats and your greatness was only beginning. Lord love ya. Rest in power, King."
Fellow actor and Marvel superhero Don Cheadle tweeted a photo of himself, Boseman, and Boseman's wife, the singer Taylor Simone Ledward, below a caption that read in part, "you were always light and love to me."
Other tributes focused on Boseman's humility and dignity in the face of hardship. Many noted that in the 4 years since Boseman had been diagnosed with cancer, he starred in multiple blockbuster films all while not calling attention to his diagnosis.
The actress Viola Davis, who recently wrapped up filming Ma Rainey's Black Bottom alongside Boseman, bid farewell to her co-star in a fitting send-off writing, "Rest well prince...May flights of angels sing thee to thy heavenly rest."
Abigail Covington is a journalist and cultural critic based in Brooklyn, New York but originally from North Carolina, whose work has appeared in Slate, The Nation, Oxford American, and Pitchfork
