Chadwick Boseman's Shirtless Rolling Stone Cover Is Jaw Dropping

Black Panther star's magazine cover leaves little to the imagination

By Meg Swertlow Feb 19, 2018 4:30 PMTags
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All hail, Chadwick Boseman!

After a record-breaking weekend, the Black Panther star displayed his prowess by posting his brand-new cover of Rolling Stone, which left little to the imagination in the tight-pants department. 

Black Panther roared into theaters on Friday and has quickly become the top-grossing film in history by a black director (Ryan Coogler) and is projected to make roughly $218 million between Friday and Monday, according to Disney. Additionally, global ticket sales for opening weekend are estimated to tally $387 million by Monday, according to comScore.

In the action movie, Boseman plays King T'Challa, ruler of the fictional African nation of Wakanda, which just so happens to be the richest and most technologically advanced civilization on Earth. But when he's not ruling over the people of Wakanda, he's putting on his superhero suit and parading around as Black Panther—a do-gooder trying to make this topsy turvy world (and his kingdom) a little bit better. 

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Black Panther's Hollywood Premiere

???? #BlackPanther @RollingStone

A post shared by Chadwick Boseman (@chadwickboseman) on

In the mag, the 41-year-old actor said that the film's popularity means big things for the world as the first African superhero movie.

"It's a sea-change moment," Boseman said. "I still remember the excitement people had seeing Malcolm X. And this is greater, because it includes other people, too. Everybody comes to see the Marvel movie."

The actor even gushed over how impressed he was with the film and its reception. 

"The money and manpower it takes to create this entire African world—it's a huge production," said Boseman. "But this is not Star Wars —this is a black superhero movie!"

Boseman also mentioned that that the film is predominately played by black actors and set in Africa is one of the things that appealed to him. 

"Some [black] actors will say, 'I don't want to play a character just because he's black,' " he said. "And that's great, I'm not saying they're wrong. But that's missing all the richness that's been whitewashed."

Meanwhile director Ryan Coogler said of selecting Boseman to play the lead, "It's perfect casting. His physicality, his reserved personality, the way he looks younger than he is, wise beyond his years."

Looks like the world agrees!