“Avengers” directors Anthony and Joe Russo and their AGBO production company, along with FanDuel, have agreed as part of their annual Celebrity Fantasy Football league to donate $250,000 to charity in the late Chadwick Boseman’s name.
The AGBO Superhero Fantasy Football Charity League, now in its second year, brings together Marvel superhero stars (and ESPN’s Matthew Berry, who made a cameo in “Avengers: Endgame”) to compete for a $1 million prize to a charity of their choice, based in part by their standings at the end of the season. And an additional $250,000 of awards based on players’ in-season fantasy competitions on FanDuel will be donated in the memory of Boseman.
People who followed last year’s league know that the weekly public trash talking aimed at their weekly opponents, including this hilariously profane video Ryan Reynolds made at Karen Gillan’s expense, are a treat.
This year’s participants, along with their benefiting charities of choice, are: Joe Russo (The Arthritis Foundation), Season 1 Champion Chris Hemsworth (Australian Childhood Foundation), Robert Downey, Jr. (Footprint Coalition), Chris Evans (Christopher’s Haven), Karen Gillan (Mikey’s Line), Tom Holland (The Brothers Trust), Anthony Mackie (Stem NOLA), Elizabeth Olsen (The Rape Foundation), Chris Pratt (Special Olympics Washington), Ryan Reynolds (SickKids Foundation of Canada), Paul Rudd (Big Slick/Children’s Mercy Hospital), Pom Klementieff (Time’s Up), Simu Liu (charity to be announced), and ESPN’s Matthew Berry (The V Foundation for Cancer Research).
“This cast is like family. We love doing this together and we’re all delighted to be able to benefit our favorite charities,” AGBO founder Joe Russo said in a statement. “Now we can play in a far more meaningful way thanks to the generous support of FanDuel. Most importantly, it’s an honor to dedicate this season to Chadwick. We all miss him dearly.”
“We have been following these superheroes for more than ten years and have heard about their passion for fantasy football from red carpet interviews, so we knew we wanted to be a part of this passionate fantasy football league,” Matt King, CEO of FanDuel Group, said in a statement. “What truly made us step up and be a part of this was the charity element and the fact that this league consists of superheroes on and off screen who have found a way to channel their fantasy football passion into doing some real good in the world.”
Russo and Berry also announced the draft order on the AGBO YouTube channel. Elizabeth Olsen gets the fortune of drafting Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey this year with the first overall pick. A newcomer to the league is “Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings” star Simu Liu, and he’ll pick 10th, and poor Chris Pratt is picking last in this brutal, 14-team league. The full draft order is below:
Elizabeth Olsen
Robert Downey Jr.
Paul Rudd
Ryan Reynolds
Pom Klementieff
Chris Evans
Matthew Berry
Joe Russo
Tom Holland
Karen Gillan
Simu Liu
Anthony Mackie
Chris Hemsworth
Chris Pratt
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