A few days after actor Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer, Black Panther director Ryan Coogler shared a touching written tribute to the late actor. Boseman, who starred in Black Panther as King TChalla, died Friday at the age of 43. I was deciding whether or not directing Black Panther was the right choice for me, Coogler wrote. And how Chad knew Howard student Prince Jones, whos murder by a police officer inspired Coates memoir Between The World and Me. But I look back and realize that Chad knew something we all didnt.