Congratulations to the late Chadwick Boseman, who has received his first Emmy nomination. The full list of 2022 Emmy Award nominees, which was announced on July 12 amid chuckles from presenter JB Smoove, included a nod for Boseman’s voice-over role as Black Panther’s T’Challa in What If …? The Disney+ animated series marks Boseman’s last performance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He recorded the show’s second episode, “What If … T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?,†prior to his untimely death from colon cancer in August 2020. Since then, the actor has received several posthumous honors — including a SAG Award, a Golden Globe Award, the Gotham Awards Tribute prize, and an Oscar nomination — for his lead role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Now he has the opportunity to become a first-time Emmy winner.
Boseman is one of several notable nominees this year. Comedian Norm Macdonald was also posthumously recognized by the Television Academy for the first time, receiving three nominations for his final stand-up special, Nothing Special. Julia Garner, Bill Hader, Sydney Sweeney, Rhea Seehorn, and Harriet Walter all doubled up and received two acting nominations this year. And Abbott Elementary creator and star, Quinta Brunson, made history as the first Black woman to earn three comedy nominations in the same year. (At 32 years old, she is also the youngest Black woman to ever compete in the comedy acting category.) Speaking of young — for the second year in a row, Euphoria’s Zendaya has defended her title as the youngest Emmy acting nominee. She is also now the youngest producing nominee. Succession, with 14 nods, set a new record for acting nominations, while Saturday Night Live remains the most-nominated Emmy show in history (nine new nods this year bring SNL’s historical total to 315). Squid Game also became the first non-English show to receive an Emmy nomination for outstanding drama, with first-time acting nominations for Lee Jung-jae, Oh Yeong-su, Park Hae-soo, and Jung Ho-yeon.
All in all, there were a lot of firsts set this year. One thing that was missing, though? EGOT energy. No one nominated at this year’s Emmy Awards is poised to complete an EGOT if they win. Still, a few nominees are on their way. If Billie Eilish wins an Emmy for hosting SNL, she’ll need only a Tony Award. Barack Obama, former president of the United States, and Selena Gomez, current president of the Selenators, both picked up Emmy nominations that would put them halfway to an EGOT. To see which celebrities turn their historic nods into historic wins, tune in to the 2022 Emmys on September 12 on NBC.