Marvel’s Avengers Seemingly Delays Black Panther Reveal Due to Chadwick Boseman’s Death

In case you missed it, the video game Marvel’s Avengers held a new War Table stream yesterday where it was revealed that Kate Bishop would be joining the title from publisher Square Enix and developer Crystal Dynamics as a new post-launch hero. At the very start of the new War Table stream, however, the developers first acknowledged the death of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, who passed away last week at 43 due to colon cancer. The developers requested a moment of silence from fans out of respect for Boseman and noted that they had altered what they would be showing — which seems to imply that Marvel’s Avengers was all set to reveal Black Panther as a new character prior to Boseman’s death.

You can check out the brief tribute in the War Table stream via the archived video above. The moment the stream officially starts at about 26:30 is when the notice first pops up, followed by the brief inclusion of a Blank Panther symbol. While the developers have yet to officially announce Black Panther as a playable character, LEGO sets for the video game seemingly first revealed his inclusion at the end of last year. It’s long been assumed that Black Panther would eventually be announced, and it does seem a bit odd for the team to reveal not one, but two different Hawkeye characters in quick succession. It would make sense that Black Panther may have been next on the docket before plans changed.

Marvel’s Avengers, from publisher Square Enix and developer Crystal Dynamics, is scheduled to release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia on September 4th, though it is currently available early for those that pre-ordered certain editions of the title. It is also set to release on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X later this year. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the Marvel-branded title right here.

Are you looking forward to the game’s release? Do you think the team was set to reveal Black Panther yesterday? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!