On inheriting a role

Seneca wrote On the Shortness of Life around 49 AD, addressing it to his father-in-law Paulinus, a man then overseeing Rome's grain supply. Seneca himself knew what it meant to step into weighty positions not of his own making: exiled by one emperor, recalled to tutor another, he spent his life taking up duties handed down or thrust upon him. His argument was that a life is not measured by its length but by whether the person filling it actually inhabits the time given, rather than squandering it or living as someone else's echo.

This week Marvel confirmed that David Jonsson has been cast as the new Black Panther, playing T'Challa's son in Black Panther 3, and the film will follow his character, Prince T'Challa II, as he comes of age. The role once belonged to Chadwick Boseman, who died of colon cancer at age 43 in 2020. To inherit a role is to face a quiet danger: spending your time honoring a predecessor so carefully that you never live your own portion of it.