Earlier in the week, Marvel Studios released a surprise new trailer that served as both a celebration of the movies and a jaw to the floor level tease for the upcoming fourth phase of films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Excluding the equally as important new shows on Disney Plus, Phase Four has a lot of big films to look forward to such as Black Widow, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Marvels, Fantastic Four, and more. Many of the MCUs biggest heroes have either appeared in or leaked as DLC for Marvel's Avengers already, but one major group has been suspiciously absent in all areas: the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Crystal Dynamics opened up about the future of Marvel's Avengers in late March and released a long-awaited roadmap for what's coming to the game throughout 2021. Leaks and rumors can't always be trusted when it comes to video games and officially, only Spider-Man and Black Panther have been confirmed as coming to the game, but all of the leaks were found in the game's files and tie-in well with upcoming MCU related projects. Marvel's Avengers needs the Guardians to keep players invested long-term and a "War for Wakanda" level expansion in 2022 could be just the way to introduce the beloved cosmic band of misfit heroes.

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Marvel's Avengers Campaign Ending Explained

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The main plotline of Reassemble campaign in Marvel's Avengers revolves around the destruction of a Terrigen Crystal, leading to the creation of the Inhumans including one of the game's main characters, Kamala Khan a.k.a. Ms Marvel. By the end of the game (Warning: MAJOR STORY SPOILERS ahead for the ending of Marvel's Avengers) Earth's Mightiest Heroes are forced to go toe-to-toe with MODOK and a Kree sentry that had been buried underwater in the San Francisco bay. In true Marvel fashion, the end of the game is full of fun teases for future content including two post-credits scenes, and it's one of those scenes that tease the idea of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

During the mid-credits scene for Marvel's Avengers, players witness a mysterious beacon emerge from the neck of the defeated Kree Sentry and shoot up into space, never to be seen again. The mere existence of the Kree Sentry was already a heavy indicator that not only do alien species exist such as the Kree and the Skrulls but Crystal Dynamics likely has plans to delve into the cosmic side of the Marvel Comics universe at some point down the line. When dealing with the Kree, Captain Marvel makes a lot of sense for the story and given she's seen on posters in Kamala's room, Carol Danvers is out there somewhere and known to the Avengers. But what about some of the other big players in the cosmic realm like the Guardians. of the Galaxy or even Nova?

Hawkeye, Kate Bishop & Rumored DLC Characters

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Back in March, Crystal Dynamics finally released a detailed roadmap for Marvel's Avengers in 2021, revealing brand new content coming to the game including upcoming events, DLC characters, and a new expansion starring Black Panther. Kate Bishop joined the game as the first DLC hero back in December, followed by Clint Barton's Hawkeye just last month. From there, only two DLC characters have been officially confirmed as coming to Marvel's Avengers: Black Panther joins the roster in the War for Wakanda expansion later this year, and the PlayStation exclusive Spider-Man was announced last year but doesn't have a release window.

In terms of rumored heroes for Marvel's Avengers, plenty of exciting characters have leaked online from in-game files but none of the rumors ever talk about the Guardians of the Galaxy. Before the game had even launched, players were able to access files from the Beta and found challenge cards for Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, and War Machine, as well as two known characters Kate Bishop and Peter Parker. Another ten characters were referred to as 'unlockable characters' in the Marvel's Avengers beta files, including Ant-Man, Wasp, Vision, Doctor Strange, Falcon, Mar-Vell, Mockingbird, Quake, Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch, and finally, Black Panther. If these leaks come to fruition, Crystal Dynamics has quite the future in store for Marvel's Avengers with an impressive level of variety when it comes to the game's heroes.

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The Future of Marvel's Avengers: Wakanda Expansion

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The Kate Bishop and Clint Barton now available to all players in Marvel's Avengers, the next big piece of content for fans to look forward to is the Black Panther-led War for Wakanda expansion which is set to release towards the end of the year. The expansion will introduce Black Panther as a brand new playable hero, as well as a new story, new Wakanda jungle biome, new outpost, new villains including Ulysses Klaw, an increased power level cap, new outfits, and more. Much like Destiny 2: Beyond Light or The Division 2: Warlords of New York, the War for Wakanda expansion is the first of, hopefully, many annual expansions that usher in a new era of Marvel's Avengers and revamps the game to keep players invested.

From Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 to the Disney Plus animated series I Am Groot or the Christmas special, the Guardians of the Galaxy is still very prominent in the Marvel universe. Marvel's Avengers has had its fair share of mishaps and it's still far from being the game players initially hoped for, but there's time to turn things around and Crystal Dynamics dedication to a full-scale expansion like War for Wakanda is a big step in the right direction. None of the leaks mentions the Guardians of the Galaxy, and right now, that's a good thing because a team like that deserves their own expansion and 2022 could be the perfect time for it.

Marvel's Avengers is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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