Black Panther May Have Been ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ First DLC Character

Marvel’s Avengers players are starving for content. So far, we only got the Mega Hive as post-launch addition with more on the way. Just recently, the community manager took to Reddit to share that they are taking current concerns seriously. It was a necessary touch to give players some reassurance. They did confirm we would receive a confirmation for the timings by next week. To build up to that moment, I’ve been rewatching old War Table videos. My goal was to get a feeling for what the plans may have been for the game. As such, I just felt like playing around with a theory as we wait for the official reveal of future content by the developer Crystal Dynamics.

The game’s release kicked off with quite a few bugs, so a delay is part of the course in the Games-as-a-Service model. Yet, we wouldn’t get our first real addition until the end of October with Kate Bishop. The reveal trailer at the time included a brief tribute to Chadwick Boseman with the info that Black Panther would not be included as originally planned. I started wondering when they planned to reveal him, as we haven’t heard anything about the character in over a month. I was rewatching the War Table that gave us our first DLC reveal, and something caught my eye while going through the initial reveal for Hawkeye. His symbol was the second among the four.

Every Avenger has a unique symbol in the game, which is used in the character select menu. It seemed like initially, they were planning to reveal four characters at one point. Optimistically speaking, maybe they planned on four DLC characters for 2020. There is no confirmation for that, but it could’ve been a monthly release once the game was made available. Still, what we are focusing on is the placement of Hawkeye’s symbol.

This visual would confirm he was always going to be the second addition. A month later, we learned Kate Bishop would be our first official post-launch character. As mentioned previously, Black Panther seemed to have a larger role in that War Table’s reveal until he was delayed. Both Bishop and Hawkeye’s operations are confirmed as a double feature so he may have been the third DLC character. Yet, something doesn’t quite add up once you take a closer look at later showcases of the video. If you rewatch the brief tease of Bishop’s operation, you’ll notice a similarity between hers and Clint Barton’s. The unique symbol is identical to the one we saw during Hawkeye’s reveal.

The initial reveal video showed something more akin to the Fraction comic’s bullseye logo. Even early leaks seemed to reveal a unique logo for potential echo characters like War Machine. So, it would’ve made sense for her bullseye visual to be Kate Bishop’s unique design. Even if the Hawkeye stories are a double-feature, why give characters one-of-a-kind visuals if they aren’t the operations? In reality, we never actually saw her symbol transition into an in-game design. It was just a visual flair during the video to call back to the comics. It also opens up the question of how character selection would include both characters. Crystal Dynamics might be giving you the option to chose Hawkeye with an additional choice between the variations. If this is the case, why is Hawkeye’s symbol the second one if both characters share it in-game?

It seemed that Black Panther was going to be an aspect of the first character reveal. At one point, he may have been the first DLC in the game. It may also explain why Kate’s DLC release is delayed until the end of October. There is also the addition of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Substation Zero operation will lead to Kate’s storyline. It will introduce us to the Tachyon Rifts that will play an important role in the Avengers Initiative campaign. So, if Black Panther was going to be the first released, his story may have built up towards these rifts. The delay also could mean that some parts of the story had to be rewritten or adapted, which added to the current content delays.

Keep in mind, this is nothing more than a theory but it is an interesting one with the information that was originally given by the developers. In some way, maybe the lack of a release date for Kate Bishop may also be caused by the upcoming Disney+ show. Marvel Studios confirmed her inclusion in Hawkeye, so they were forced to wait for the official reveal of the actress to build upon that hype. The synergy between Marvel’s ventures is great for the shows but may have also added to the issues that plagued the game’s release. No matter what may have been the reason, it is interesting how these things come together.

Source: Reddit, YouTube

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