The Best Chadwick Boseman Performances
Chadwick Boseman went from a relatively unknown aspiring director and supporting actor to a fully-fledged leading man in just a few short years. Starting on television in 2003, he appeared in minor roles and a few short films before transitioning to the big screen. Stepping into the role of fictional African superhero Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Boseman became more than a household name, and once receiving the title of Most Popular U.S. Actor in China at the 13th Annual Chinese American Film Festival, his status as an international superstar solidified. Passing at only 43 years of age from colon cancer, with just over a decade’s worth of films, Boseman leaves a career that eerily mirrors his real-life trajectory.
Through a legacy of upstanding Blackness, Boseman often portrayed characters that epitomize the role models that the Black community looks up to. Though perpetually youthful, his performances always command the screen with a quiet determination beyond his years and strength in his eyes. Hisworstyle effortlessly comes through all of his work, simultaneously true to character development, encompassing mannerisms, rhythms, dialects, and more to breathe life into his roles. Chadwick Boseman remains an exuberant force in all of his films, frequently carrying a presence far better than the film itself. Find here a rundown of the best Chadwick Boseman performances, saving his best for last.
The Express: The Ernie Davis Story (2008)
In his first feature film, The Express, Boseman plays Floyd Little, a young football player being recruited for Syracuse University after Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy, leaves the team. Boseman only appears shortly towards the end of the film and with very few lines, but his wide-eyed exuberance already shines through this early in his career, his grounding nature ever-present.
Allowing Rob Brown’s lead to play off of him, Boseman’s Little becomes significant, symbolizing the future of Black American athletes inspired by Davis’ achievements. The historical drama marks the first of many real-life Black legends in Boseman’s career.
Gods of Egypt (2016)
Certainly not Hollywood’s proudest moment, nor director Alex Proyas’ either, Gods of Egypt’s cultural interpretation reads silly, to say the least. The film received backlash for its non-Egyptian casting, with primarily white actors taking up the roles. Boseman, as the god Thoth, automatically stands out in such a crowd, though even his casting received criticism, with his character falling into the magical Black trope.
His performance still shines as one of the more impressive in the movie. Slick and stylish, Boseman turns in his flashiest act here, a prelude to his superheroism but even gaudier. One can’t overlook that Thoth, presenting as many multiple versions of himself, likely took more work for the actor to pull off than many of the rest of the pantheon. Working on a film of this size marks a considerable step for Boseman’s career, thankfully not marred by the film itself.
Draft Day (2014)
Although Draft Day revolves around Kevin Costner’s Sonny Weaver, Jr., the general manager recruiting athletes for the Cleveland Browns on one of the biggest days in the NFL, Boseman’s Vontae Mack serves as the film’s heart, the crucial underdog player in consideration.
Boseman takes a role without much meat to it and still makes it his own, giving a determined, charismatic, and purposeful performance. He shows up only in a handful of scenes, but those moments become some of the most significant in the film for not only his character but also Sonny’s decision-making, which trickles down to other important players. Boseman finds a way to show the man behind the athleticism, in a way coming back full circle from his previous film, The Express.
The Kill Hole (2012)
Every career starts somewhere, even one that seemingly happens overnight. Though The Kill Hole doesn’t ring as a beloved classic, it does present Boseman in his first shot at leading a feature film. A slow-burn military thriller that unfortunately mismanages its themes, Boseman does the best with what he’s given as a war veteran coming to terms with a history he’s not proud of.
Acting opposite the likes of Billy Zane and Tory Kittles in a role juicer than his own, Boseman’s performance gives weight to the situation, uplifting what would otherwise be a forgettable endeavor. Fitting for the film, He shows a side of himself less polished than usual, and his rawness contains glimpses here and there of what would eventually make him a star. Just a year later, his name would spark light and send him straight to the big leagues.
Message from the King (2016)
It may play like a typical revenge thriller, but Message from the King fills its runtime with small but intriguing character performances from the likes of Alfred Molina, Tom Felton, and Luke Evans, among others. It also features one of the best Chadwick Boseman performances.
Boseman manages to dominate the screen against them all as Jacob King, a man from Cape Town searching through the underbelly of Los Angeles to find out what happened to his sister. His portrayal is passionate and dangerous, steadily climbing the chain of command while becoming increasingly ruthless. The story has many contrivances, but Boseman remains a rock, hurdling through the film’s players with force. Though overshadowed by his screen debut as Black Panther this same year, Boseman makes his move toward becoming an action star evident here.
21 Bridges (2019)
In his final outing on the big screen, Boseman plays Andre Davis, a detective who begins to uncover secrets within the police force while searching for two men suspected of killing cops. The film is more style over substance, a mystery unable to hide anything, with Boseman’s stoic character stuck in the middle.
It says something that, of all the big names they’d worked with in the MCU, the Russo Bros. would bring Boseman onto their next project, wanting to continue their collaborations. And, of course, he delivers a solid, unflappable performance out of a mediocre script, helping Stephen James to shine while outshining a fiery actor like J. K. Simmons, just as expected.
Marshall (2017)
Simultaneously a historical courtroom drama biopic and a film noir crime mystery disguised as a light-hearted Josh Gad flick, Marshall works to downplay the seriousness of its real-life situation as much as to remember the importance of its subject’s persona.
As the prominent Black lawyer Thurgood Marshall on one of his earliest cases, some critics thought Boseman may not have been the best choice for this particular role. The film underused him as a lead who is often not the film's focus or forced to be silent. Boseman nonetheless pushes through with the material given, delivering a robust performance with solid deliveries from an average script. As it plays up its fair share of humor and lacks the depth needed to build Marshall into the important man he would become, it is a wonder that anytime Boseman speaks, importance still hangs on his every word. Call it the most miraculous of Chadwick Boseman performances.
Get on Up (2014)
Often, actors get pigeonholed into the same type of familiar role. As his filmography shows, Boseman easily casts into similar calm and collected, though formidable, individuals. Get on Up remains an outlier in his career.
Here, he steps outside his usual fair to express the free and unhinged nature of funk and rock star James Brown. Also showing a range in playing the musician at several different ages through his life, Boseman most channels that one-of-a-kind charisma and Brown’s emblematic natural rhythm and physicality when not hidden under thick old age makeup and prosthetics. Even when the movie slides into the occasional camp and caricature, Boseman remains entirely committed to owning his performance and becoming an icon.
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
A Captain America movie in name, though more of an Avengers movie in content, Civil War serves another purpose: a herald for both Spider-Man and Black Panther’s entrances into the MCU. While Spider-Man shows up quickly for a fight, Black Panther’s presence becomes more than just an introduction to the character.
In one of the smartest moves made by Marvel’s production wheelhouse, the intricacies of Black Panther’s lore and his alter ego, T’Challa, get set up here, doing a lot of leg work before the character’s first solo movie. Even this early on, Boseman nails the superhero role with strength, emotion, and excellent physical prowess. He steals every single scene he’s in, whether clawing his way through other fan-favorite characters as the masked superhero or dealing with diplomacy and emotional impacts out of costume.
42 (2013)
With baseball as America's favorite pastime, 42 embodies a subversive all-American feel-good movie. Jackie Robinson is naturally easy to root for on the field in his own biopic, but Boseman's portrayal also picks up the stakes outside of the game, fully fleshing out his subject in that subtle and grounded way he’s so good at. Even against Harrison Ford throwing a curveball of a character performance, Boseman does more than hold his own. He ignites the screen, turning his first major leading role into the breakthrough role of his career.
As far as portrayals of real-life Black legends go, Boseman’s Jackie Robinson feels both more accurate than his Thurgood Marshall and more natural than his James Brown, making it one of his most vigorous turns.
Black Panther (2018)
In a film filled to the brim with well-rounded and well-written characters played by an incredible ensemble cast without a weak link, Boseman’s Black Panther becomes more than just a superhero, and his T’Challa becomes more than just a king. He marks the grounding point that ties everyone together and off of which everyone plays. His Black Panther also becomes the idea of Wakanda itself and what this isolated nation free of colonization stands for, with all of its essential voices bouncing off of him.
Whether playing it calm as a cat or as a forceful feline, he dictates the mood of the entire film while embodying courage and confidence. It’s truly a make-it-or-break-it performance, with the whole film riding on his shoulders. Thankfully, Boseman makes it great..so much so that the void of his absence in 2002’s follow-up, Wakanda Forever, is ever-present.
Da 5 Bloods (2020)
In Spike Lee’s study on the ravages of war, four US Army veterans return to Vietnam to find a treasure previously left behind and the remains of the fallen member of their group. Boseman plays that fallen member, Stormin Norman, appearing in flashbacks and presently as a ghostly reminder of their time together. He displays the group’s youth and innocence fading away, and as their squadron leader, Boseman yet again becomes the grounding point of the movie, motivating the other characters through their movements both then and now.
This particular role being his last before passing on makes it all the more heavy and prescient, as if Boseman spoke the truth by channeling his real-life situation into his impassioned performance to help with acceptance. A scene he shares with Delroy Lindo strikes especially hard in this regard.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom absolutely showcases actress Viola Davis in the title role. Still, when she isn’t on screen, Boseman’s trumpeter, Levee Green, captivates amongst the rest of the jazz band.
A departure for the actor, his last performance moves him from the usually calm and collected one to a rocket just waiting to blow up. Boseman plays with the levels of emotions with expertise, pulling others in as a hopeful face one moment and flying off the handle into a rage the next. The switch from one to the other feels organic, like a musician playing in the ranges of his instrument. It’s incredible just watching Boseman here, with the role lasting as his last and absolute best.
Though Boseman’s performance as Levee remains his most remarkable, a sign of a life cut too short, another cinematic moment exemplifies the actor’s grip over an audience and can’t go unmentioned.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018) / Avengers: Endgame (2019)
In Avengers: Infinity War, Boseman returns for his third outing as Marvel's Black Panther, now a pop culture icon outside the comics. While his country of Wakanda serves as a battlefield for war, Black Panther proves to be a leader who picks up the pieces when even Captain America flounders. The nature of the film, juggling so many characters, doesn’t allow for much screen time for Boseman, but his part in a devastating ending helps to tug on the audience’s heartstrings, leaving him uninvolved for most of the next film in the series.
In Avengers: Endgame, as all the heroes join together, readying for the film’s epic climax, the return of Boseman’s Black Panther ushers in the battle, sending audiences cheering. Though not the most vital showcase of his talent, this fan-favorite moment cements his legacy as a beloved screen presence that can’t be forgotten.
