Skydance and Marvel Games' Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra is a World War II-set adventure revolving around newly created versions of Captain America and Black Panther.
The title, overseen by the Uncharted franchise's Amy Hennig, could be the most cinematic superhero video game to date. The reveal trailer which dropped earlier this year pointed to that being the case, though we are still waiting to see some gameplay footage.
Ahead of the game's planned 2025 release, Entertainment Weekly caught up with Hennig who said, "It led us to do a bunch of interesting things, one of which was to not only tell a story with a young Steve Rogers who's still trying to find his feet, as opposed to the more seasoned guy that we've seen in a lot of the films. It also let us introduce a new Black Panther of 1943."
"It led us to tap into all the things that I love, all of the wonderful tropes of World War II-era adventure films, classic men-on-a-mission movies and all of that," she continued. "There's a lot of intrigue in our story, a lot of twists and turns, fascinating characters, and interesting locations."
The piece also confirms that we'll spend time in both Nazi-occupied Paris and Wakdanda's jungles. However, Hennig promises a globe-trotting adventure which sees Cap and the Panther "confronting the same enemies... They're concerned about the same events that are transpiring, but they're initially almost working against each other."
"Good people have to work together to overcome evil. If you separate, then you're not going to succeed." As for the evil these heroes are looking to take down, the creative makes it clear that their shared foe is a relatively simple one: "It's pretty black and white. Who doesn't want to punch a Nazi?" Hennig asked.
Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra is set to take place from the perspective of four playable characters: Captain America (Drew Moerlein, The Ruse), Black Panther (Khary Payton, The Walking Dead), Howling Commando Gabriel Jones (Marque Richardson, Unprisoned), and Wakandan spy Nanali (Megalyn Echikunwoke, Arrow).
Lyne Renée (Motherland: Fort Salem) is playing Julie, a key ally in the French Resistance, and Joel Johnstone (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) will play Howard Stark, Iron Man's father.
"As a new studio trying to do some groundbreaking stuff with cinematically presented games, the way we invite the most people in is by bringing them something they already know and love, but in a new form," Hennig concluded.
Stay tuned for updates on Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra as we have them.
Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra - In the chaos of war, worlds collide. Skydance New Media and Marvel Games share an original story where an ensemble of four heroes must overcome their differences and form an uneasy alliance to confront their common enemy.