Black Panther Open-World, Single-Player Game Reportedly In Development

Marvel fans saw what’s next for Black Panther with the stellar Wakanda Forever trailer from Comic-Con this weekend, but that’s not all that’s in the works. A Black Panther game is also said to be in development, and it may be coming from a new studio founded by the former head of Monolith Productions.

Reporter Jeff Grubb talked about the new game on his daily news show for GameSpot sister site Giant Bomb. According to Grubb, it will be an open-world, single-player game, and something of an origin story. It takes place after the previous Black Panther has died, so players must take on the challenge of becoming the new Black Panther. It’s very early in development, so no release window was given.

In the MCU films, T’Challa–the role immortalized by Chadwick Boseman–took over as the Black Panther after the death of his father, King T’Chaka. The Black Panther is a ceremonial protector role that changes hands somewhat regularly in the comics. Boseman has since passed away, and the Wakanda Forever trailer makes it clear that the Marvel film universe will incorporate that element into its next story. It’s unclear if the game will follow T’Challa or another Black Panther who takes the mantle afterward, but Grubb and his guest Mike Williams speculated that it could involve an original, player-created character.

The new game has been codenamed Project Ranier, and is coming from EA. Grubb said this is likely the debut project from a Seattle studio founded by former Monolith Productions VP and studio head Kevin Stephens. Under Stephens, Monolith made the licensed Lord of the Rings games Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel, Shadow of War.