Marvel 1943: Rise Of Hydra Release Date Window, Gameplay, And Everything We Know So Far

It's official, one of the big superhero games to look forward to is Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, which has a tentative release date window of 2025. We've seen Captain America and Black Panther share the stage before in Marvel's Avengers--as well as solo efforts in other games over the years--but this new adventure from Skydance New Media looks set to be a cinematic experience starring the comic book icons. Featuring an ensemble cast of characters, Marvel 1943 could also be the best-looking superhero game yet thanks to the incredible technology powering this titanic team-up.

The game looks impressive in action and is stacked with a talented roster of actors breathing life into the main characters. Set in 1943 Paris after the Axis forces of Nazi Germany invaded it, Marvel says the game will feature a new, original World War II story as players control four heroes through one of the darkest periods of history. Ahead of its eventual release, here's everything we know about Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra so far.

When Will Marvel 1943: Rise Of Hydra Be Released?

The Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra Announcement came during the GDC 2024 State of Unreal presentation on March 20. Next year's schedule is slowly starting to fill up with other high-profile titles like Grand Theft Auto 6 and Pokemon Legends: Z-A, so it'll be interesting to see if the final release date for the new Marvel game is in direct competition with other upcoming releases.

Watch The Marvel 1943: Rise Of Hydra Trailer Here

The first look at Marvel 1943 was captured entirely inside of the Unreal Engine 5-powered game. While it's worth noting that scripted events will always look better than raw gameplay, the game still looks amazing in action and makes use of the latest advances in Unreal Engine 5. Amy Hennig, who is leading the development on this Skydance New Media game, explained that Marvel 1943 is the game that has allowed her to create a cinematic and immersive experience combined with the player agency afforded by a video game.

"In the past, this has always felt like it was just beyond our grasp," Hennig said. " But I think we're finally crossing that threshold. When we're telling a character-driven story, it's critical for us to faithfully capture every nuance of our actor's stellar performances. So we've been incredibly grateful to partner with our friends on the MetaHuman team to tell our story."

Marvel 1943: Rise Of Hydra Platforms

Nothing has been confirmed yet, but presumably, Marvel 1943 will be a PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S game. The new footage shown at GDC used Unreal Engine 5.4, and while it might be possible to get the game running on old-gen systems, that would possibly require far too many technical compromises to be feasible.

Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra Story, Setting, And Characters

Set during one of the most pivotal years of World War II, players will explore the Marvel 1943 map through streets, rooftops, and forests of Occupied Paris as one of four main characters. A young Steve Rogers, the US super-soldier known as Captain America; Azzurri, T'Challa's grandfather and the Black Panther of that era; Gabriel Jones, an American soldier and member of the Howling Commandos; and Nanali, a Wakandan spy operating inside of Paris.

Exact story details are still slim, but so far, it looks like all four heroes will need to work together if they want to save Paris from its Nazi occupiers and the growing threat of Hydra, an insidious terrorist organization hellbent on world domination. That's easier said than done, as Captain America and Black Panther don't start on the best of terms. The trailer showed off one crucial scene of the two heroes opposing one another, despite their sharing a mutual goal to stop the Nazis and Hydra.

Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra Gameplay

So far, the footage shown for Marvel 1943 has been purely cinematic. The GDC trailer does have very brief moments of what appears to be gameplay, showing off a third-person perspective similar to other games like the Resident Evil 4 remake. While we're still waiting to see how the game changes when playing as Gabriel Jones or Nanali, it looks like Captain America will be an expert at ricocheting his shield off of enemies and pummeling them with his boxing skills. Black Panther appears to have several covert options allowing him to sneak around and ambush enemies, as well as Wakandan technology to help him stand his ground.

Marvel 1943: Rise Of Hydra Technology

Inspired by Marvel's comics, films, and television series, Skydance has been working with the latest tools in Unreal Engine 5.4. The facial animation tool MetaHuman Animator has been used to help create more authentic performances, while other Unreal Engine tools have allowed Skydance to create realistic environments for the game to be set in.

"To create a really immersive game experience, the characters and environments have to work together harmoniously," Hennig said at GDC. "We can't just drop believable characters into a less-convincing world. So we need to start with authentic and densely detailed environments as the setting to our story. Because part of our story is set in 1940s Occupied Paris, we needed the world to have a really believable and visceral level of detail and grit."

Another interesting piece in the development puzzle is how Unreal Engine 5.4 has been used to create clothing that moves with a character and behaves just like the material would in real life. The last few years have seen studios make great strides in developing digital garments that don't clip together or act like a second skin, and Marvel 1943's wardrobe captures the personality of the characters dressed in those iconic outfits.

"An essential part of a Marvel hero is their look and it could be really distracting if the outfit doesn't look as realistic and believable as the rest of the world," Hennig said. "As you can see, Cap's leather uniform fits just like you would expect in real life, with all the correct material properties and the complexity of creases forming as he moves."

Marvel 1943: Rise Of Hydra Voice Cast

There's a pretty great cast attached to Marvel 1943, with Khary Payton easily being the biggest name in the cast. Payton's voice can be heard in many films, TV series, and video games, and he's best known for voicing various incarnations of Cyborg in DC Universe projects. In live-action, he put in a memorable turn as King Ezekial in AMC's The Walking Dead TV series. Interestingly, Marvel 1943 also features Iron Man's dad, Howard Stark, in the cast. A brilliant scientist and businessman in his own right, Stark was instrumental in aiding the Allied forces in World War 2 across multiple top-secret projects.

• Drew Moerlein as Steve Rogers / Captain America
• Khary Payton as Azzuri / Black Panther
• Marque Richardson as Gabriel Jones
• Megalyn Echikunwoke as Nanali
• Joel Johnstone as Howard Stark

Marvel 1943: Rise Of Hydra Soundtrack

Skydance has recruited award-winning composer Stephen Barton to produce an original score for Marvel 1943. Barton has worked extensively in film, television, and games, and has contributed to the soundtracks for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, MultiVersus, and the third season of Star Trek: Picard.