Summary
He may already look the part, but the Captain America who appears inMarvel 1943: Rise of Hydrais still decades away from being enlisted into the Avengers and as such it’s easy to imagine him being far more of a straight-laced do-gooder boy scout. That said, as a soldier enlisted into what was the first and most epic challenge he’d suited up against, Steve Rogers will not be taking Hydra’s threat lightly inMarvel 1943: Rise of Hydra.
Steve doesn’t appear to wield a sidearm in thisoriginal iteration of Marvel’s World War 2 periodand that may suggest he’s firmly against killing, even in the war effort, but his aggressive apprehension toward Azzuri’s Black Panther ensures he isn’t willing to let matters get worse or out of hand with multiple super soldiers like himself running amok.
Indeed, Captain America, the United States government, and possibly SHIELD must highly regard Black Panther as a threat if Steve’s allowed to let Azzuri sidetrack him away from the obvious perils of Hydra’s occupations. However, like most superhero outings where two characters are initially antagonistic for one reason or another, it’s almost guaranteed that Steve and Azzuri will inevitably overcome differences and work together against their common enemy. This trope is predictable and cookie-cutter, though, and subverting it by the end of the gamecould grant it much morenarrative and emotional resonance ifMarvel 1943also has a predictably somber conclusion.
Beautiful Graphics Can’t Substitute a Meaningful Story in Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra
Skydance chose to pinpoint Captain America and Black Panther’s heated confrontation as a narrative crux in the story trailer forMarvel 1943and by doing that it insinuates at least two of the four playable protagonists will be at each other’s throats for a time. The problem here is that basically nobody would expect them to be battling one another the entire game and that their team-up would eventually occur at some climactic point in the story.
If so,Marvel 1943may not have many other surprises in store and could feature a relatively unengaging story, regardless of howarresting, realistic, and cinematicRise of Hydra’s cutscenes are in Unreal Engine 5. Indeed, Red Skull is likely the lead antagonist and one of the super soldiers Captain America is chiefly concerned about but a more nuanced rivalry and conflict with Black Panther—or Wakanda at large—could give the plot much more depth.
Part of the story’s predictable nature is that, while it ultimately loses the battle in WW2, Hydra isn’t eradicated and begins operating in the shadows in modern-day Marvel. Therefore, if Captain America and Black Panther leave things unresolved, they will have lost on both accounts.
How Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra’s Ending Could Affect a Future Sequel
Steve and Azzuri never getting along wouldn’t be a superficial subversion, either, because having that quarrel persist amid their respective conflicts with Hydra could have a massive impact on thefutureRise of Hydra’s canon is building foundations for in 1943. If Steve and Azzuri’s relationship concludes in a place of antagonism it would be interesting to see how Steve then gets along with T’Chaka or T’Challa in the present day.
Of course,Marvel 1943could be planned as a singular standalone game and such direction would make sense given that a trilogy or series of Marvel games taking place in the 1940s might not be feasible.
It would be a stretch to believe more than one game is needed to tell the storyMarvel 1943aims to tell, for instance, and it might be too enticing to leap ahead in time to a modern-day story asCaptain America leaps ahead in time via a block of ice. It could be exciting to see how Steve’s relationship with Azzuri could affect the relationships he might later have with a future Black Panther, but doing so would strip the game’s unique 1940s atmosphere away and that’s arguably where it holds all of its weight right now as a novel piece of Marvel media.
Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra
WHERE TO PLAY
In the chaos of war, worlds collide. Captain America and Azzuri, the Black Panther of the 1940s, must overcome their differences and form an uneasy alliance to confront their common enemy. Fighting alongside Gabriel Jones of the Howling Commandos, and Nanali, a Wakandan spy embedded in Occupied Paris, they must join forces to stop a sinister plot that threatens to turn the havoc of WWII into the ultimate rise of Hydra.
