Marvel’s Avengers fans have been waiting a long time for War for Wakanda, and fortunately, this wait is almost over. The expansion is set to debut on August 17, and once it arrives, it will be bringing Black Panther to the hero roster, new enemies to fight, and a fresh region to explore. Undoubtedly the biggest expansion Marvel’s Avengers has seen thus far, Crystal Dynamics’ comments on the free DLC should be exciting enough to gain the interest of some lapsed fans and new players alike.
In an interview with Game Rant, Hannah MacLeod and Scott Walters from Crystal Dynamics provided more insight into the expansion’s content. A writer and senior game designer respectively, the developers were able to provide insight into both the characters and gameplay of T’Challa’s new adventure. Both developers share what they are most excited for players to see in the DLC as well, highlighting areas that fans should keep a close eye on. Interview is edited for brevity and clarity.
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Q: Could you talk about what you put into the backstory of T’Challa and what he was up to before and after A-Day?
Hannah MacLeod: Sure. So Cap and T’Challa were friends, and were in discussions about potentially forging an alliance before A-Day. When A-Day happens and Cap dies, T’Challa’s like "I’m out. This was a bad idea, the hubris of The Avengers was way too much." He kinda reverts to Wakanda’s isolationist policy and closes the borders of Wakanda. But five years later, AIM has risen in power and they hired Ulysses Klaue to proclaim AIM vibranium. This brings the world conflict to Wakanda’s doorstep for the first time. What Klaue is doing in Wakanda also has worldwide effects, bringing The Avengers into the story. We wanted to make a story that gave us a T’Challa who had a relationship with The Avengers previously, but wasn’t an Avenger himself yet.
Q: There are familiar characters that fans of the comics or movies would know. Could you talk about how you envisioned your versions of these existing Marvel characters?
Hannah MacLeod: Absolutely. So starting with T’Challa, we really wanted to capture a version of Black Panther who’s older, who’s more experienced in the role that he’s in. The movies really focus on more of an origin story for him, where he’s sort of a new leader, but in the majority of the comics… T’Challa’s been in this role for a while. Focusing on an older version of the character let us pull from a lot of different spaces. One of the other things that might surprise people is T’Challa’s kind of arrogant. He’s earned the right to be. He’s incredibly intelligent, he’s a scientist in his own right, he upgrades his own suits, he’s prepared for everything; including his friends potentially turning on him. He trains to be able to fight his friends.
Shuri is an amalgamation in our game of a lot of different sources. She’s so interesting. She’s definitely got some of that youth and cheekiness that she shows in the movie, but in the comics, she wanted to face off with her uncle and become Black Panther. Her plan was to challenge their uncle, and then T’Challa got there first. It was really interesting to explore Shuri’s desire for leadership and her belief in her ability to do so. Her character has a bit more authority in our game than you may have seen before.
I think my favorite thing about Okoye is, though she respects the role of Black Panther and believes in the traditions behind it, she’s willing to speak up if she isn’t in 100% agreement with T’Challa’s choices. He respects her enough that she can have a voice in Wakandan Policy and things like that. I really like having characters around T’Challa that are not just reverential, “Black Panther is great,” because that’s not really Wakanda. Wakanda is big on deciding their own future and figuring out how they want to be ruled and if they want to he ruled.
We also have some characters that were only from the comics that we pulled in, my favorite being Zawavari, who is this Wakandan sorcerer voiced by Dave Fennoy. He’s amazing. Even more than Okoye, he respects the position of Black Panther, but he’s over 100 years old. So he’s seen a lot of Black Panthers fall. With T’Challa he’s like "I’ve seen you in diapers, it’s sweet that you think you’re important now." It allows there to be conflict and shows that not all of Wakanda bows before the Black Panther. It also lets us lean into the spiritual and mystical side of things, which in the comics T’Challa is very against at times. We have our very own spins, but you’ll find touchstones of them both in the movies and in the comics.
Q: You mentioned this backstory you created for Shuri. Were there ever discussions about making Shuri Black Panther instead of T’Challa?
Hanna MacLeod: I… would never say it’s out of the question. But that’s as far as I’ll go on that.
Q: Fair enough! When it comes to gameplay, Black Panthers seems kind of focused on combos and juggling and keeping enemies in the air. Have you seen anything that has impressed you during development when it comes to controlling T’Challa?
Scott Walters: We try to make all of our heroes combo-centric and combo-focused, but for Panther, we looked at stuff like his power attack where he can Pounce. He’s very acrobatic, very agile, but he’s also an enhanced human being. So he has a lot of strength some characters don’t.
So when we were doing his grab, on paper it’s just a grab, Hulk can grab, Kamala can grab… but they ragdoll these enemies and toss them around. Black Panther is more about leaping through the air, jumping on these enemies, and then using his strength and Vibranium claws to really tear into them. But when we were exploring that, we were thinking ‘why not do that for the larger enemies too?’ Hulk isn’t going to pick up a giant exo and swing it around, but Panther can totally jump on top of them and lay into them.
You can do a thing where you block and parry and build up your energy, jump on the large guy and combo him a bunch, then jump off and do some air combos when you see an attack come in. You can also jump on a wall, throw some daggers, and launch all the enemies in the air.
We also want our players to be able to specialize in different ways. One example is that he’s got these Vibranium daggers that are all about debuffing targets. But there are a few different versions. One flies around the battlefield and almost like a boomerang seeks out targets. He also has one that basically impacts and creates an AOE that launches enemies into the air. You can then leap at them and air juggle them, making it a ranged combo.
Q: One challenge you’ll probably face when adding a new character is making them interesting enough that people want to play them, but balanced enough so players do not only have one choice. Can you talk about that challenge?
Scott Walters: Yeah so, everytime we introduce a new hero at the level of like a Black Panther, or even when we did Hawkeye or Kate, we look at the things that are iconic to that hero. So with Black Panther, he is really about melee attacks and being agile, but it left us wondering how we really provide some depth to his skills. So with Panther we figured, why not make him about buffs and debuffs? Players will deal more melee damage the more daggers they have in an enemy, for example.
His Vibranium suit can absorb energy from blocking and parrying attacks, and once you have that energy, you can unleash a kinetic blast or supercharge your melee and other abilities. His heroic abilities either buff allies or make enemies weaker. To really succeed as Black Panther, you are going to want to learn the rotation and master all his skills. Whereas when you play someone like Hulk, you can just tank hits and rage out and smash things. We always look for ways where we can provide a level of depth that, if you’re casual you can just engage with the combat at a low level and still succeed. But if you really want to play optimally and work as a team, that is also possible.
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Q: Speaking of team comp, have you noticed any heroes that work well with Black Panther and that players should consider bringing with them?
Scott Walters: I think any combination will work, but some combinations work better depending on how you spec. Like, his Support heroic can be all healing and defensive focused. So that frees up a spot if one of your friends is always playing Kamala since she has a group heal. Or, if you’re engaging with some endgame content and healing is helpful, you can now have more of it. Kamala, Hawkeye, and Black Panther all have healing options, so you can stack the team with characters that heal well. It’s all about communicating with your team and adjusting based on what they are doing.
Q: What characters from the existing roster were the most fun to create some new dynamics for? What are their relationships with T’Challa like?
Hanna MacLeod: So we thought it was really, really important to have every Avenger have their own opinions on Wakanda and T’Challa. So you get the chance to see everybody, especially in the Outpost which I highly recommend people run around. My favorite interaction with The Avengers… Thor shocked me at how much I loved him in Wakanda. He’s a god, and Wakanda has its own gods. So when the writers were deciding what Thor’s opinion would be on Wakanda and these people that have their own gods, they took it in a direction that I completely didn’t expect. But I love it!
I’m also really passionate about the relationship between Cap and T’Challa. I think every Avenger has a deep relationship with Cap, a lot of the Reassemble campaign is about how the team goes on when it has lost its heart. But with T’Challa, there’s a mutual respect there since they have to deal with the burdens of leadership in ways that other people haven’t. I deeply love that Cap has this respect and reverence for Wakanda. He knows Wakanda can handle itself, so it lets Cap be humble in ways that I really appreciate.
Q: Can you talk about designing Wakanda from a story perspective and what was put into the history of this place? But also what was put into creating this biome and a new playable space for players to go through? What went into conceptualizing your version of Wakanda?
Hannah MacLeod: From a story standpoint, it all comes from the comics. There are so many different facets of Wakanda that the comics have gotten into, especially the recent runs of Black Panther, which have really dove into the monarchy and government. So we wanted Wakanda to not be this one monolithic thing and lean into the fact that Wakanda has a bunch of different factions and people with different opinions. It was really important to us when fleshing out the world and the story to give players the chance, if they choose, to dive deep into Wakandan lore and history.
Especially in the Outpost, there is a lot of stuff to dive into, and the art team was amazing with how they fleshed out this space. It was also important for us to emphasize that Wakanda has been unconquered for 10,000 years. So they haven’t been overrun by other cultures, there’s no European influence, they haven’t been colonized. So when looking at African culture for inspiration, we thought about their architecture would look if we divorced them from colonization.
I think our artists emphasized the balance between science and nature, they don’t let their tech overrun the natural elements of Wakanda. There are some ancient structures our artists made, where instead of cutting down trees to make structures, they would bend trees in order to work with the existing ecosystem. So it took tons and tons of research, but we really wanted to give our players the chance to dive deep if they want to.
Scott Walters: In terms of the gameplay for the biome, it is very much this hidden and isolated space. We represented that through all the little nooks and crannies you can explore, and they have their own underground rail system essentially that is baked into the environment. Black Panther is constantly training, so you’ll see in certain areas you go through that there are these training gauntlets that he’s set up. So players have to avoid extra obstacles just to get through, just because he wants to stay at his peak.
We’ve also done some reworking on certain objective mechanics to fit the space. So I think you’ll have fun playing through both the main campaign and the Avengers Initiative content in Wakanda.
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Q: So if someone were to start fresh, there would be content to enjoy in Wakanda from the get go?
Scott Walters: Yeah! So because fans are very particular about the Marvel characters they like, and some are just hardcore Black Panther fans, we’ve set this up like our other expansions where you can hop right in from the main menu. It does take place after the previous stuff so, minor spoilers obviously. There’s an intro mission where you’re playing as Black Panther to introduce the character, Wakanda, and some of the enemies. And then that opens up to the Avengers Initiative and the rest of the campaign has multiplayer support. There are also new threat sectors and drop zones in Wakanda.
Q: Is There A Plan To Continue Telling A Story Involving T’Challa after the expansion?
Hannah MacLeod: So T’Challa is now part of our story, and there’s always an intention to keep telling that story. T’Challa is one piece of that, so our intention with T’Challa is to keep him involved. There’s so much still to cover in Wakanda, so we’d never say no to more stories focusing on him.
Scott Walters: Also, we’re releasing another Omega Threat that is based off the Wakanda content and the characters you meet there. It is endgame content, and we’re not releasing it day one so that players can level up T’Challa, get some new gear, and get ready for the new event.
Q: Is there anything tied to Wakanda for the other characters, like gear that they can chase?
Scott Walters: We definitely have gear that is tied to Wakanda. We have two new damage types, Sonic and Vibranium. Both the enemies and heroes can use it, so all the heroes can get gear that relates to that stuff.
Q: When someone jumps into the War for Wakanda expansion, what is something that you hope they take notice of and appreciate?
Hannah MacLeod: I’ve got to give it to Chris Judge. He’s mentioned before that he was hesitant to take the role because of Chadwick Boseman’s iconic performance, but I think he brought a lot of gravitas and power to the role that I really wasn’t expecting. We knew going in we have Chris Judge, so he’s going to bring a lot to it. But there’s a particular intel document that he performed that sticks with me to this day. It made us all cry. His performance was so nuanced and difficult, but in a good way. So I hope people engage with some of that secondary narrative. Chris really crafted a T’Challa that was unique to our game but felt like it had the weight of those decades of legacy on top of it.
Scott Walters: I think a lot of players will really be excited about the new enemies. Our enemy team put a lot of work into the Klaue mercs. Not just to give a reskin to existing enemies and give them Klaue colors, but to really change up the combat. The enemies use the status effects to basically ask the player to do something unique and new. Whether that’s dealing with the sonic disruption effect, or the volatile corrupted Vibranium where players have to avoid attacks for a few seconds, I think the Klaue mercs will add a ton of variety to the gameplay and keep the content they’re in unique.
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Marvel’s Avengers is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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