What was Ray Chan's cause of death? Marvel pays tribute to late art director at the end of Deadpool & Wolverine

Art director and production designer for Marvel Studios, Ray Chan, died at 56, this year in April. Marvel Studios paid tribute to the late art director through their latest movie Deadpool & Wolverine, which was released on July 26, 2024. The movie ends with a tribute saying "In Memory of Raymond Chan."

The tribute at the end of the film further read,

"This film is dedicated to the memory of Raymond Chan. Ray was our anchor being. His contribution to this film and so many others was a gift which was never taken for granted and will never be forgotten. We’ll miss you, Ray."

56-year-old Ray Chan died in his home in Wales, after suffering a stroke. The Deadpool & Wolverine star Ryan Reynolds posted a tribute shortly after the long-time art director died. Reynolds posted an Instagram story where he also praised Ray's artistry. He wrote,

"He built entire worlds from scratch – and did so in the most collaborative and inclusive ways."

Hugh Jackman also posted sometime after the art director's demise and said that Ray "created magic." Another tribute to Chan was posted on Instagram as well as on X from the official account of Marvel Studios and Marvel Entertainment, on July 30. The caption of the post read,

"Thank you Ray Chan. ❤️ Your passion and artistry really did create the MCU."

Several netizens replied to the post and sent their condolences for the late artist director.

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Deadpool & Wolverine actor Ryan Reynolds along with director Shawn Levy spoke about Ray Chan in a tribute posted on Instagram

As mentioned, the official Marvel Studios Instagram page posted a tribute to Ray Chan, who had been an integral part of their movies. the post included a video which featured Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds. Levy said,

"It's hard enough to make a movie on this scale and to figure out how to build in real life things that only existed in our imagination... Ray would find a way to do that and to do it with tenacity and diligence and just this tireless joy."

Reynolds then continued,

"Every time we've played back this movie, you've to marvel at what Ray built. When you say 'a filmmaker' - a lot of people think of directors, writers, producers, and stars... But Ray is a filmmaker, Ray is a storyteller..."

One of the producers, Kevin Feige, was also seen in the video, talking about the late art director who passed away in April. Feige also praised Chan for all the hard work he had done while being associated with Marvel for so many years.

The Instagram tribute video ended with Ray Chan talking about his job and experience working on the sets of Deadpool & Wolverine, and several other Marvel movies.

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Who was Raymond Chan?

Born in 1967 in Greater Manchester, as the oldest of three kids, Ray Chan went to the Liverpool School of Art where he earned a degree in graphic design. He then attended the Kingston School of Art to pursue a master's degree in Film and Television. The first film he worked as a part of, was the 1993 British drama movie The Secret Rapture.

The art director was best known for his involvement with the Marvel movies. The first Marvel movie he worked in was the 2013 film Thor: The Dark World. Ray Chan was a supervising art director for multiple Marvel movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Doctor Strange, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Ray was also a production designer for movies like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. He won the ADG Excellence in Production Design Award twice for his works in the movies- Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Endgame.

Ray Chan is survived by his wife Lindsay Gibbon, who is also an architect, and their two children.

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The recently released movie has generated over $210 million in just the first three days since its launch. Collider reported that Deadpool & Wolverine has also become the 6th highest-grossing movie of this year.

The movie cast includes Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Aaron Stanford, and Morena Baccarin, to name a few.