Almost a year after its poorly received launch, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics’ Marvel's Avengers released its anticipated War for Wakanda update in August 2021, introducing fan-favorite hero Black Panther to the game. Also known by his real name, T'Challa, Black Panther has seen a surge in popularity following his appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and his 2018 MCU solo film, Black Panther. However, the version featured in the game is quite different from the Black Panther of the movies.
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and debuted in Fantastic Four #52, T'Challa is the king of the fictional country of Wakanda - an isolated but technologically advanced country and the world's only source of the valuable metal Vibranium. The biggest difference between the films' and Marvel's Avengers' Black Panthers is in their relationships to Wakanda and to T'Challa's position as king.
In Black Panther's MCU film, the character is just learning what it means to be king, having only recently taken on the role in Captain America: Civil War. The T'Challa of Marvel's Avengers has been king for a much longer time. This extra experience puts him more in line with the comic book version of the character, but other differences set him apart from the MCU's Black Panther.
Marvel's Avengers: War For Wakanda's Black Panther Vs. The MCU's
While most of the characters’ abilities and equipment remain the same, the T’Challa of Marvel's Avengers has the ability to generate Vibranium energy daggers - something the MCU Black Panther never demonstrated. Marvel's Avengers' Black Panther can also summon the panther god Bast to his aid, which is far outside the MCU version's toolkit.
Another major difference lies in the an entirely different character that inhabits T’Challa's world: the villain Ulysses Klaw. First debuting in Black Panther #53, Klaw is a nemesis of Black Panther to this day. In the comics and the Marvel's Avengers game, Klaw is a physicist who specializes in sonic energy. He was able to create a purely sonic body for himself, and his powers give him the ability to create sonic constructs and control people using his voice. Other than both characters having lost an arm, this is remarkably different from the MCU's Ulysses Klaue, who is a still-human, black-market weapons dealer.
Following War for Wakanda's interpretation of Black Panther, the Marvel's Avengers game universe will soon receive its own version of Spider-Man on PlayStation consoles, and War For Wakanda hints Scarlet Witch could also join the game. Its Black Panther is both loyal to the comics and distinct from the Black Panther MCU version, so these other characters will likely get similar treatments.