Kids Are Holding Memorials For Chadwick Boseman Using Their Action Figures

Cinematic superheroes may just be characters played by movie stars, but to children they can mean much more than that.

In the eyes of young fans, the actors who play these larger-than-life roles can be just as much a hero as the person with the fancy costume on the screen. If you need proof of how much these famous figures mean to children, all you need to do is look on social media to see how young fans are paying tribute to the late actor Chadwick Boseman.

In the hours following his death, celebrities flooded social media with their condolences and tributes to the actor. Now, parents are sharing photos of their children’s self-created memorials to the superhero, King T’Challa, and the man who portrayed him in the movies.

The day after Boseman’s death, Twitter user King Westbrook posted a photo of his 7-year-old son, Kian, who set up a memorial for the fallen Black Panther in his driveway. He stood beside his Avengers action figures and held the “Wakanda Forever” pose.

“‘Black Panther’ was important to him simply because Kian loved seeing a superhero that looked like him,” Westbrook told Insider. “He understands that Black Panther is a fictional hero, but he made Kian believe a Black boy could grow up and be a strong Black superhero. When he found out about Chadwick’s passing, he was devastated. I’m not saying that lightly. Chadwick was his hero, and he felt like he lost a strong Black superhero.”

Many other parents shared their children’s tributes on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Boseman’s fellow Avenger, actor Mark Ruffalo, noticed the trending photos and commented on the impact his late co-star had on the children of the world.

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