Following the additions of Hawkeye and Kate Bishop, Marvel's Avengers is slated to add Black Panther to its roster of heroes later this year, seeing the character make his debut alongside a new Wakanda-based world to explore. With the hero's inclusion offering a brand new storyline, many have wondered who will be playing T'Challa, and thanks to a new report, they finally have their answer.
Confirmed in an exclusive interview conducted by Entertainment Weekly, Black Panther will be portrayed by Christopher Judge, an actor probably best known by video games fans for his now-iconic portrayal of God of War protagonist, Kratos. Judge has also filled many other popular roles throughout his career, including Teal'c in Stargate SG-1, D-Mob in Def Jam, and various characters in World of Warcraft.
The actor told Entertainment Weekly that he was initially hesitant to take the role out of respect for the late Chadwick Boseman, who starred as Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, his family allegedly convinced him to take it, with Judge joking to the publication: "my mother and my children said if I didn't do it, they would disown me." He later claims he hopes the performance will bring something new to the character and that fans will enjoy it.
Black Panther will officially be making his way to the game next month, coming complete with a new story campaign titled War for Wakanda. Back at Square Enix's E3 presentation, fans got a closer look at the update through an action-packed cinematic trailer, showing off the futuristic African environments of Wakanda as well as a first look at T'Challa's allies and enemies. The big bad for the campaign will seemingly be Black Panther's long-time nemesis Klaw, who will spread chaos throughout Wakanda in an effort to steal its reserves of vibranium.
The ensuing action will somehow lure The Avengers into the fray, seeing the superhero team join forces with T'Challa and officially make him part of the team. War of Wakanda will be the third slice of significant post-launch content to hit Marvel's Avengers, with the first being Kate Bishop's Taking AIM DLC, which saw the character travel back in time in an effort to track down her former mentor, Hawkeye. The deadly archer then got his own slice of content a few months later through Future Imperfect, which saw Clint Barton head to the future and face off against an alternate universe version of the Hulk known as Maestro, with the villain ruling over a post-apocalyptic wasteland caused by a devastating Kree Invasion.
Marvel's Avengers is out now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Entertainment Weekly