Marvel’s Avengers has delayed the introduction of Black Panther DLC to the game following Chadwick Boseman’s tragic death, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics has confirmed. In a Marvel’s Avengers War Table live stream this week, the game’s team announced that “out of respect for a fallen true hero,” they had altered what they had intended to show during the event.
Chadwick Boseman passed away last month following a four-year private battle with colon cancer. The actor, who portrayed Wakandan king T’Challa in Black Panther and other Marvel movies including the Avengers series, has been the subject of tributes across the world, with the tweet announcing his passing to his fans becoming the most-liked in Twitter history.
While Marvel’s Avengers does not feature the movie likenesses of its characters, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics have nonetheless decided against revealing Black Panther’s presence in the game at this point. Though it is all but confirmed that the Wakandan hero will be featured in the game as DLC, the character wasn’t revealed during the War Table event, as was seemingly planned.
The War Table began with a tribute to Boseman:
“Like many of you, we were shocked and saddened by Chadwick Boseman’s passing.
As members of the global Marvel family, our thoughts are with his loved ones in this difficult time.
Please join us for a moment of silence in memoriam.”
While Black Panther was likely set to be revealed during the War Table event, it instead solely focused on new character Kate Bishop, who will take a starring role in missions that directly advance from the conclusion of the game’s Reassemble campaign. In a blog post, Crystal Dynamics revealed that Hawkeye’s future DLC will pair with Kate’s for a “double feature.”
The Marvel’s Avengers War Table event can be viewed below: