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BURBANK (CNS) - "Black Panther" will air on ABC for the first time tonight, followed by an ABC News special paying tribute to its late star, Chadwick Boseman.
The 2018 blockbuster will air commercial-free from 8-10:20 p.m., then “Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King” will run from 10:20-11 p.m.
ABC is billing the special as a celebration of “Boseman's storied life, legacy and career and the cultural imprint he made on- and off-screen.”
The special will also feature tributes from celebrities, political figures and fans across the world following Boseman's death Friday at age 43 from colon cancer. It will offer ``special words from those who starred alongside him and knew Boseman best, and shine a light on the medical condition he privately battled,” according to ABC.
In “Black Panther,” Boseman starred as T'Challa, who returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced fictional African nation Wakanda following the death of his father to succeed to the throne, but after a powerful enemy reappears is drawn into a conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk.
“Black Panther” was the first superhero film to receive a best picture Oscar nomination. It received seven nominations for the 2019 Oscars, winning for best costume design, best original score and best production design. It was the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film to win an Oscar.
Boseman also portrayed Black Panther in three other Marvel Cinematic Universe films – “Captain America: Civil War,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.”
The Walt Disney Co. is the parent company of ABC and Marvel Studios.