Netflix reveals tribute to Chadwick Boseman in The Harder They Fall

The new Netflix western The Harder They Fall, starring Idris Elba, Regina King and Jonathan Majors, features a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman.

The film about black cowboys tells a fictional story based on real-life figures from American history.

It features a set piece on a steam train when the characters played by King and LaKeith Stanfield stage a hijacking and break Elba’s outlaw Rufus Buck out of custody.

A picture shared by Netflix on Twitter reveals the name of the train is CA Boseman.

The post said: “A nice little easter egg from The Harder They Fall: The train is named C. A. Boseman, in tribute to the brilliant and beloved Chadwick Boseman.”

Boseman died aged 43 in August 2020 following a private four-year battle with colon cancer.

He was best known for playing the lead role in Marvel’s ground-breaking superhero blockbuster Black Panther and earned posthumous acclaim for his final role in the Netflix drama Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, for which he was nominated for an Oscar.

Rapper Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, is a producer on The Harder They Fall and he has said he wanted to “see us represented” in the western.

At the world premiere of the movie on the opening night of the BFI London Film Festival last month, Carter said: “Just to see us represented, you know, with a lot of films we didn’t see ourselves in westerns, as if we didn’t exist.

“It is almost odd, people think that it’s like a caricature, that they are playing roles, but they’re not playing roles.

“These names like Stagecoach Mary, all the actors in this, they really existed in this time, so just see us represented and see that we have voices.”

The Harder They Fall is now streaming on Netflix.