During the Epic Games’ State of Unreal keynote at GDC 2024, Skydance New Media shared a trailer for their upcoming game, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra. Amy Hennig, the game’s director, joined the keynote to go over the details of the game and speak about the power of Unreal’s new engine. Rise of Hydra will feature an original story, but that story is likely inspired by the events of the comic Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers.
Flags of Our Fathers was released as a 4-part mini-series under the Marvel Knights imprint in 2010, two years after Hudlin’s original Black Panther run. It featured the work of writer Reginald Hudlin, penciler Denys Cowan, inker Klaus Janson, colorist Pete Pantazis, and letterer Joe Sabino. The story served as a way of strengthening the history and bond between Captain America and the current Black Panther, T’Challa. Flags of Our Fathers is also a callback to an event from Black Panther #1 Volume 4, written by Reginald Hudlin.
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Flags of Our Fathers is told from the perspective of Gabriel Jones, the only Black member of Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos. The Commandos are on the trail of some Nazis who are after vibranium to enhance their weapons. The Howling Commandos and Nazi troops both have the misfortunate of running into the Dora Milaje and Azzuri, the grandfather of T’Challa and the Black Panther of the time. The Howling Commandos, along with Captain America, survive their encounter with the Wakandans, and briefly ally to push the Nazis out of Wakanda.
The key differences between Flags of Our Fathers and Rise of Hydra are perspective and location. Rise of Hydra will take place in German-occupied Paris, a stark contrast from the Wakanda’s jungles and wide open savannahs. Flag of Our Fathers is also only from the perspective of Gabriel Jones. The game will feature four playable characters, including Jones. Each character will have individual storylines that will likely intermingle at various points.
It’s unknown whether Rise of Hydra will be a multiplayer game. Based on Hennig’s past work it will likely be a single-player game with players switching between characters at designated points in the story. The trailer briefly introduced the playable character Nanali, who is a Wakandan spy and a completely original character. Thanks to the success of the MCU, the woman-led warrior culture of Wakanda has become very popular among fans. Even though they have been featured in other video games, this will be the first time fans can play as a Wakandan warrior that isn’t the Black Panther.
The trailer also confirmed that the Red Skull is in the game. In future trailers, we’ll likely see Hydra staples like Baron Strucker, Nick Fury, and maybe even members of the Invaders like Namor. All of these characters appeared in Flags of Our Fathers. In the comic, Strucker and Skull represented the primary leadership of Hydra but were removed from direct conflict. However, the game’s title implies that they have a larger role.
Arnim Zola is the highest-ranking Hydra member not featured in the comic. But as Hydra’s top scientist, Zola is the most qualified to handle any vibranium stolen by Hydra. Of the characters from the comic, Namor is the least likely to appear due to not having any real reason to be part of the story as far as we know. But he does have a war-time connection with Captain America and King Azzuri. Maybe Skydance has Invaders DLC planned for the future?
Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra will be released sometime in 2025. You can purchase Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers wherever comic books are sold.
