We already knew that Amy Hennig, the award-winning writer and director behind games such as Jak 3 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, was working on a narrative-driven Marvel game focused on Captain America and Black Panther. And today, we finally learned some new details, including its official title: Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra. It'll arrive sometime in 2025.
Kicking off State of Unreal 2024, Skydance Media unveiled the first trailer for the game, which you can check out below.
The trailer showed our first look at the game's cinematics, along with brief snippets of gameplay. We already knew the game was set in WWII, specifically in 1943. The trailer also showed us glimpses of the other two playable characters joining Captain America and Black Panther, confirming that the game is set in Paris.
In a press release published after the trailer reveal, we learned that the other two playable characters in the game are Gabriel Jones, a U.S. soldier who is also a member of the group Howling Commandos, and Nanali, a Wakandan spy.
Casting for Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra was revealed by Marvel in a separate blog post. You can check out the voice actors and who they play below:
- Khary Payton as Azzuri / Black Panther
- Drew Moerlein as Steve Rogers / Captain America
- Marque Richardson as Gabriel Jones
- Megalyn Echikunwoke as Nanali
- Joel Johnstone as Howard Stark
We also learned that the game will not only be powered by Unreal Engine 5, but it will include MetaHuman Animator, the same facial animation tool that Ninja Theory will be using for its upcoming project Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga. MetaHuman Animator will allow any developer taking advantage of the tech to use an iPhone or stereo helmet-mounted camera to "reproduce any facial performance as high-fidelity animation" on its characters, providing more realistic facial animations.
We previously learned when the game was announced in late 2021 that Hennig would make an "original story" set in the Marvel universe. A year after its initial tease, a Disney and Marvel games showcase revealed that Hennig's project would be set in WWII and would have an ensemble cast with four playable characters, including Steve Rogers / Captain America and Azzuri / Black Panther. We learned that this project would not feature co-op despite the four playable characters.
This is one of two projects that Hennig is spearheading, with the second being an untitled Star Wars project. While little is known about the game following its announcement nearly two years ago, last June, we learned that Dominic Robilliard, who was the director of the canceled project Star Wars 1313, was hired by Skydance Media to work on this new game.
Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra was one of many announcements coming out of State of Unreal 2024. For more on the biggest reveals, check out our roundup.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
