Hey guys. So a lot has happened lately regarding Black Panther since the last time I wrote about the character. For one, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" did what I feared Marvel would do when they said they wouldn’t recast King T’Challa after the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman, they killed him off. As one would guess, I was incredibly disappointed by this as this means the characters story in the MCU has effectively been cut short. While I still hope we’ll see a multiverse version of him in the MCU later on down the line, things are not looking good for T’Challa right now. To make matters worse it appears the MCU's decision seems to be affecting him in other mediums as with a controversial cameo in "X-Men 97" featured T'Chaka as Black Panther instead of his world famous son. And now that T’Challa is gone from the MCU this can be detrimental to his growth as a character. In John Ridley’s reviled Black Panther comic run, T’Challa has undergone brutal character assassination. He’s now exiled from Wakanda after a spy program of his got exposed and became a miserable shell of his former self. Though thankfully Marvel has been trying to build T'Challa back up on the comic side with good showings in the Avengers, along with "Black Panther: Blood Hunt" and "Ultimate Black Panther".
So with him being written out of the MCU and even animation I thought the one medium where he could thrive is gaming. This is because I’ve noticed that this is the one medium that hasn’t been affected by the MCU’s influence. Both Insomniacs Spider-Man series and the recent Guardians of the Galaxy game from Eidos Montreal were wonderful experiences because they did something fresh and unique with these characters instead of trying to mimic the MCU for the sake of synergy and because of the new takes on these iconic characters from these studios I thought this is what T’Challa needs in these unprecedented times. And it seems I might be getting my wish.
Recently a WWII era Marvel game starring Captain America and Black Panther has been announced at the D23 expo, and the Black Panther we’ll be playing as is T’Challas grandfather Azzuri. Now some T’Challa fans see this as a cause for concern as ever since Boseman’s death, Marvel has been leaning hard on the narrative about Black Panther being a mantle more than a character even though the franchise has always been about T’Challa since 1966. However I’m not bothered by Azzuri being the Black Panther of this game because for one thing, T’Challa hasn’t been born yet. Another reason is because it’s obviously taking inspiration from the “Flags Of Our Fathers” storyline in which Azzuri teams up with Cap during WWII. No what I’m focusing on today the Black Panther game being made by EA.
The Game From EA
In August of 2021, Geoff Grubb said on his podcast that EA is apparently in early development of an open world Black Panther video game led by former Monolith Productions boss Kevin Stephens. Now while I was initially excited by this news it’s the description of the game that filled me with dread. Grubb went on to say that the story of the game is about the player becoming the new Black Panther after the death of the previous one. To make matters worse when the game was officially announced there was no confirmation on whether the Black Panther we play as will be T’Challa. To be fair, T’Challas origin story has him donning the mantle of Black Panther after the murder of his father T’Chaka. But saying that there’s no confirmation on whether we’ll play as T’Challa in light of everything going on with the MCU is very concerning. No seriously, when the Iron Man video game was announced they mentioned Tony Stark by name. When the Wolverine video game was announced they made it abundantly clear that we'll be playing as Logan but no mention of T'Challa for the Black Panther game? How is that not a red flag?
Why Killing T’Challa In Other Mediums Is Problematic
If the Black Panther that dies in the rumored game is T’Challa then EA will be setting themselves up for failure. On average, AAA video games take at least three to five years to develop. If the game is in early development then we are possibly looking at a 2025 to 2027 release date. Not only is that three to five years after the release of Wakanda Forever but that’s five to seven years after the passing of Chadwick Boseman.
So if they decide to kill T’Challa in the game in order to synergize with the MCU that’s just asking for trouble because so much time will have gone by since Boseman’s death that people will have largely healed from it by then. Not to mention that it will be very difficult to fight off any accusations of profiting off the man’s death by that point in time. Furthermore they won’t be able to hide behind the alibi of this being done to honor Boseman. That rings true with the movie side of things because as much as I disagree with the decision to kill T’Challa in the MCU, Ryan Coogler along with the rest of the cast and crew at least knew the man personally and therefore didn’t feel comfortable recasting. The people working on the games on the other hand? There’s no excuse. Absolutely none. It’s an entirely different medium and therefore a different continuity all together. There’s no reason to not use T’Challa.
Furthermore trying to ride the MCU’s coattails blew up in the face of a previous Marvel game that tried it. Which game you may ask? Marvel’s Avengers. Throughout the story mode of the game, it places a heavy spotlight on the Inhumans. You can obviously tell the game was being made during the Inhumans push that Marvel was doing throughout the early to mid 2010’s, especially since at the time Marvel didn’t have the film rights to the mutants (X-Men). But the Inhumans comic sales flopped. And to make matters worse was the awful television show from Marvel Entertainment. The final nail in the coffin was the Disney/Fox merger, which finally brought the mutants home to Marvel Studios. So when the game was released it showed pretty badly that it was being made in a now bygone era.
I do not want the same to happen for a Black Panther game. Besides people still love T’Challa even though Chadwick Boseman is no longer with us. Hell, the War for Wakanda DLC temporarily saved sales for Marvel’s Avengers. Why? Because people craved to go on another adventure with T’Challa. He's clearly still a popular character in spite of what happened to the man that played him in the films so why not use him as the protagonist of the game? Oh and remember when I mentioned the T'Chaka cameo?
The Cracks Are Starting To Show
When "Wakanda Forever" was still filming a large part od the fandom was behind Marvel's decision to retire T'Challa as a way to honor Chadwick Boseman's legacy. Yet two years later some of those same fans are outraged at the decision to exclude the character from "X-Men 97". As I stated earlier, the more time goes by the more audiences will heal from Boseman's death and I believe the controversy over this cameo is proof of that. And it's obvious Marvel was blindsided by this hence why they had Jake Castorena try to panic explain why they had T'chaka instead of T'challa is because apparently T'challa is still a kid in the 90's (despite the fact that all of his peers such as Tony Stark and Peter Parker are adults in this universe). Beau DeMayo finally decided to set the record straight and confirm it was because of Boseman's passing that they decided to defy the continuity of the "Fantastic Four" animated series. His ultimate reasoning being "humanity over continuity".
Needless to say, some of the fans he was talking to were not pleased by this answer. So does this mean that because Boseman is gone, actors aren't allowed to even voice the character anymore? You man to tell me that Keith David (who voiced T'Challa in the 90's) is no longer allowed to play a character he helped bring to life decades before Boseman did? Does this mean that if "Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes" were to get a revival James C. Mathis III would be out of a job because Marvel fears it would be a slap in Boseman's face? I'm sorry but as time goes by Marvels claims of excluding T'Challa from mediums outside of comics out of respect grows weaker and weaker. And to DeMayo's credit he did say that if he worked on the show now his decision making in regards to T'Challa might have been different but to say it was out of respect for Boseman falls flat because again, this show is not connected to the MCU in any shape or form.
What T'Challas absence from certain Marvel projects and Marvels reaction to the backlash from said exclusion is that Marvel was not thinking long term in regards to this character. Even thought they began production on the cartoon in early 2021, animation takes a long time to complete so did they really think that people feeling a certain way about T'Challa in 2021 would have those same feelings in 2024? Recent events tells me absolutely not. And if Cliffhanger Devs has the same mindset as Marvel Animation then this is a recipe for disaster. But I wouldn't go into full doom and gloom mode yet, as the keyword here is "if".
Having T'Challa Be Playable Will Avoid Longterm Headaches
Luckily Cliffhanger Devs is still hiring people for the game and some employees from the company have been interacting with fans on social media on what they would like to see in the game (and said fans have made it clear they want to see T'Challa front and center). And while this blogpost was written partially out of concern it's not all bad for T'Challa in the world of gaming as he's a playable character in the game "Marvel Rivals". If Cliffhanger Devs did have the same mindset that Marvel Animation had when the game was given the green light, there's still plenty of time to course correct and have the King of Wakanda front in center in his first solo game and give fans a memorable experience just like Batman fans had with the Arkham games or Spider-Man fans with the Insomniac games.
Ultimately I don't want Cliffhanger Devs to clip their own wings before they have a chance to spread them. Simply having T'Challa alive and as the protagonist of the game will do them more favors longterm rather than kill him in a haphazard attempt at synergy. Because if they decide to bury the king in yet another medium then the backlash to his exclusion from "X-Men 97" will merely be a sneak preview of what's to come. Let's all hope they make the right choice. Thank you for reading and Wakanda Forever.
Comments
Post a Comment