Marvel's Avengers had a rough go when it launched last year and although it's still far from perfect, Crystal Dynamics has remained committed to supporting the game. One of Marvel's greatest characters, Black Panther, will join Marvel's Avengers later this month and it's looking like he'll make one heck of an addition to the game thanks to all of the new content that's being added with the War for Wakanda expansion.
Marvel's Avengers will add many hours of story via the War for Wakanda expansion, as it introduces a whole new side to Crystal Dynamics' Marvel universe. Although there is some clear influence pulled from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there's an obvious distinction between this version of T'Challa and Chadwick Boseman's. Adding God of War actor Christopher Judge into Marvel's Avengers as Black Panther seemed like an obvious choice, not just because of his incredible voice, but his incredible acting as well. Judge seamlessly blends into the role of Black Panther, making it his own as opposed to doing a rip-off of Boseman's interpretation. Given some felt that the original cast of characters in Marvel's Avengers was just a discount version of their MCU counterparts, it's nice to see someone bring something truly fresh to the role.
Similarly, Wakanda itself is a beautiful, advanced kingdom that is littered with golden architecture that still stays true to its African roots. A lot of care was put in to ensure that it's neither identical to the MCU version nor just a generic jungle biome. Marvel's Avengers version of Wakanda is fresh, it's mystical, and exciting, which is something the main game had an issue with. Many of the biomes from the original version of the game felt by the numbers and ultimately, a bit lifeless. They lacked the feeling of being part of the rich Marvel universe, but Wakanda doesn't fall victim to this.
Crystal Dynamics also paid careful attention to ensuring Black Panther himself doesn't exactly fall prey to just being a reskin of a somewhat similar character gameplay-wise. Given they're both quite strong, fast, and fight with their fists, Crystal Dynamics could've made him feel too similar to Captain America, but they didn't. This version of Black Panther is unique in just about every way, from the way he moves to his abilities in combat. Black Panther can fling blades at his enemies, use kinetic blasts of energy, and capitalize on his more cat-like fighting style to effectively take down groups of enemies with virtually no help at all from others.
Likely knowing the power behind the character and his recent surge in mainstream popularity, Crystal Dynamics has taken great care with Black Panther. It remains to be seen just how good the actual narrative in Marvel's Avengers' War for Wakanda expansion is, but what they have shown is promising. T'Challa's fight against Kalue and other villains like Crossbones is shaping up to be something wonderful and could be exactly what the game needs to win back lapsed players.
Marvel's Avengers - War for Wakanda will release on August 17 on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC. Screen Rant was invited to a hands-off presentation for the purposes of this preview.