Marvel's Avengers: Black Panther: War for Wakanda Expansion: Art of the Hidden Kingdom E-Book

Matthew Pellett

• Herausgeber: Titan Books
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 106

Beschreibung

The official art book for the Marvel's Avengers expansion Black Panther: War for WakandaBlindsided by a betrayal and the resulting tragedy, King T'Challa, the Black Panther, devoted protector and current ruler of Wakanda finds it difficult to entrust his duty to anyone else, even his sister Shuri, while also confronting those who wish to do Wakanda harm. When arch-villain Klaw's forces threaten Wakanda's safety, T'Challa must take the fight right to them to defend everything and everyone he holds dear.Players experience the game's story and additional missions in the ongoing Avengers Initiative in the lush jungles of Wakanda, an entirely new environment and sole location of the world's Vibranium. They also get to explore the Royal Palace that overlooks Birnin Zana, known as "The Golden City," in a new Outpost that contains Shuri's laboratory, Zawavari's chambers, and the Wakandan War Room.Unmask the artistry behind the expansion in this showpiece hardback book containing exclusive concept sketches, character art, storyboards, and fully rendered scenes alongside fascinating insights into the creative process from the talented creators of the expansion.

Leseprobe

Page 1: JIN KIM

This Spread: JEFF ADAMS

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

6

INTRODUCTION

8

CHARACTERS

14

black panther / T’CHALLA

16

shuri

24

Okoye

26

Zawavari

27

N’Iix & Tech Ops & Capitol Staff

28

Dora Milaje

29

Warriors

30

Crossbones

31

Klaue & Klaw

32

Klaue Company / A.I.M. horde& Hunter Crawlers

38

MISSION 1: THE WAY IT BEGAN...

42

Birnin Zana: throne room

44

tech lab & kimoyo beads

46

central atrium & general areas

48

zawavari’s chambers

54

armory

58

war room

60

Birnin Zana vista &Vibranium mound

64

Vibranium

66

Warriors Gate

70

Murals

72

Panther Totems

74

storyboards

76

MISSION 2: WORLD OF WAKANDA

80

Tram & Bead system

82

Waterfall cavern

84

Talon jet

86

Watchtowers / Turrets

88

Fort Hahn Garrison &Kimoyo Network Control Center

92

Jungle & traversal platforms

98

Borderlands

104

Jabari-Lands

106

Ancient Spaces

108

Modern Spaces

112

storyboards

114

MISSION 3: POWER SHOW

116

Necropolis

118

Focused UndergroundSonic Emitters (FUSEs)

120

MISSION 4: BLOOD FEUD

122

Azzuri’s Temple

124

storyboards

128

MISSION 5: THE SOUND AND THE FURY

130

Mine

132

Final Battle

140

storyboards

142

KLAW RAID –

DISCORDANT SOUND

146

Temple

148

MINE

151

EARLY CONCEPTS

154

Acknowledgments

160

FOREWORD

I’m Dave Fennoy and in 2021’s Marvel’s Avengers: Black Panther: War forWakanda Expansion I play the role of Zawavari. He is a magician who rejectstechnology to embrace the ancient magic of his homeland.

Crystal Dynamics asked if I’d be willing to write the foreword for this bookfeaturing the concept art, the final assets, and a revelation of the developmentprocess that went into the amazing African world in which the game takes place.

I wondered, “Why me?” The team revealed that they were impressed by avideo I made for Black History Month in which I recounted much of the historyand accomplishments of African people. From the ancient pyramid-buildingcivilizations of Kush and Egypt (Kemet), where the not-nearly-as-ancientGreeks went to learn science, mathematics, and philosophy, to the Moors,Muslim Black Africans who conquered Spain in 711 and ruled it for nearly 800years, and in so doing helped bring Europe out of the Dark Ages and usher inthe “Renaissance.” And of course the numerous kingdoms and empires of therest of Africa, which included the Mali Empire, whose ruler Mansu Musa wasthe richest man to ever live.

As much as the true history of Africa, Africans, and the diaspora beforecolonialism is important, so too are the motherland’s stories, fables, myths,legends, and the relatively recent concept of Afrofuturism, the combinationof science and fantasy with African culture, traditions, and aesthetics thatimagines a positive post-colonial world for the offspring of Africa.

Why Afrofuturism? Because for too long the fantasy and sci-fi genreshave left us out, ignored us, or allowed us to exist only as minor players in thecultural fantasies of the “colonizer.” War for Wakanda puts us front and centerin a sci-fi fantasy world based on the actual people, customs, fashion, religion,architecture, and philosophy of Africans. Authenticity was so important thatthe game’s developer hired a dialect coach, Beth McGuire, to ensure actorsplaying the people of Wakanda did so with the authentic accents of theAfrican people who live in the same region as the imaginary Wakanda.

I will go so far as to say that this game, Marvel’s Avengers: Black Panther:War for Wakanda, and the accompanying art book are important culturalmilestones, a vision that, though science fiction, has its foundation in truthof place, people, customs, art, and philosophy. It’s important that the people

portrayed live lives outside of the colonial stereotypes that have dominatedthe very idea of Africa and African lives for centuries. It’s not just importantfor Black people, but for all people. Racism and colonialism, in so many waysone in the same, have dominated world thought to the detriment of all.The world needs to have a vision of Black people and Black culture beyondcolonialism. This game and this art are certainly that.

It’s been said, “Africa isn’t underdeveloped, it’s over exploited.” Truth!Africa is richer in natural resources than any other part of the world. Sinceancient times it provided gold, diamonds, and other precious metals and gemsto the rest of world, and tragically, from the 17th century to well into the 19thcentury, human chattel. Even now, the world must turn to Africa, because ourtechnological lives of computers and cell phones would be impossible withoutthe many precious minerals that are found in abundance nowhere else but inAfrica. In so many ways vibranium is a metaphor for the wealth of Africa.

There is, however, another reason to add this book to your collection.Because the images and the story of how this world of Wakanda was createdare amazing. Aspiring artists and animators will want, even need, to have thisbook, not only for the art, but to be able to study the process of creating it.The Crystal Dynamics artists went deep developing the Wakanda in whichthe game takes place. You’ll understand how deep as they explain how theycreated not only a reimagined modern Wakanda, but also the remnants ofthe ancient Wakanda, complete with architecture, art, artifacts, and thetechnological timeline of the mastery of vibranium.

For collectors of video game art books, this is a must-have for yourcollection. (And, yes, when you bring it to the pop culture conventions, I’ll behappy to autograph it for you.) For friends and family into Black Panther orAfrofuturism it’s the perfect gift. And of course, one size fits all!

We will all want to have this book and its amazing images on the coffee tableto delight and inspire us as we flip through its pages alone—and of course witheveryone who visits—to remind us of that Wakanda feeling, as we cross ourarms across our chests and say, “Wakanda Forever!”

—Dave Fennoy

PG6

MARVEL’S AVENGERS: BLACK PANTHER: WAR FOR WAKANDA EXPANSION – ART OF THE HIDDEN KINGDOM

PG7

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Marvel’s Avengers: Black Panther: War For Wakanda Expansion– Art of the Hidden Kingdom, a celebration of the game-changing Marvel’sAvengers chapter of such size and craft it could easily be mistaken for afull, stand-alone title. In the pages ahead, Crystal Dynamics shares theuntold stories behind Black Panther’s debut in the live-service epic Marvel’sAvengers, along with the artistic theories behind each step on the journey toshape a unique vision for one of Marvel’s best-loved heroes.

To deliver a brand-new take on Wakanda and the Black Panther mythos, theteam at Crystal Dynamics, supported by external studios Virtuos Shanghai andNixxes, needed to follow in the footsteps of War For Wakanda’s protagonist.In the story, T’Challa seals Wakanda off from the rest of the world after thetragic events of A-Day at the start of the Marvel’s Avengers Reassemblecampaign, with the expansion’s action picking up five years hence. Similarly,art director Jeff Adams, external art lead Carlos Garcia, and main conceptartist Jin Kim, in tandem with the wider art teams, had to completely wallthemselves off from what had come before.

Their mandate involved ensuring no man-made art from Marvel’s Avengers orits Kate Bishop–Taking A.I.M. and Hawkeye–Future Imperfect expansions wasrecycled in War For Wakanda. Just as Wakanda and its people carved their ownpath throughout history, free from outside influences, so too would the War ForWakanda art team forge ahead from a fresh start. Naturally occurring featuressuch as flora and earth were exempt from this rule (“We’re not going to makenew dirt,” laughs art director Jeff Adams. “We have dirt.”), but from the largest ofbuildings and vehicles, to the smallest of gameplay objects and resources, everyman-made element present in War For Wakanda involved a bespoke design, craftedto exist only within the Wakandan bubble. The objective was simple: when playersstep beyond Wakanda’s border, they emerge into a brand-new world where nothinglooks or even functions the same.

A small team at Crystal Dynamics initially commenced work on War For Wakandaas early as 2018, shortly after the cinematic release of Black Panther. This coregroup then expanded out into larger internal and external teams as developmentramped up. But for some staff, the preparation began long, long before 2018.

THIS PAGE: (Below Left) Black Panther #1 (January 1977) cover JACK KIRBY(Below Middle) Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966) panel JACK KIRBY, JOE SINNOTT(Below Right) Avengers #70 (October 2003) panel OLIVIER COIPEL, ANDY LANNING, CHRIS SOTOMAYOR

INTRODUCTION

PG9

Years before art director Jeff Adams started work on the Avengers IP, hisoffice walls were adorned with Marvel pictures. As a child he grew up digestingevery Marvel comic he could. “I spent more time on that than actually payingattention to school work, which is one reason why I’m in games,” he says. So,after a lifelong obsession, the chance to define the look of Wakanda and itscharacters inside Crystal Dynamics’ own Marvel’s Avengers universe came withhuge responsibilities.

“The first thing I wanted to do is to satisfy the little-kid version of myself,”he says, recalling how it felt to pore over the characters and worlds in hisformative years, and the need to stay faithful to the feelings these memoriesconjured up. “There are a ton of fans that you have to carry the torch for, andyou have to anticipate what they’re going to want.”

Similar stories extend throughout the team. Marvel and Black Panther fansthrough and through, the challenge of shaping War For Wakanda was met withwidespread excitement, and an overwhelming desire to do justice to the IP.Buoyed by passion and armed with years’ worth of knowledge as fans, the team

meticulously researched all facets of Black Panther–including every panel ofevery comic–to shape the foundations of the expansion’s look and feel. Fromthis work the team created an internal style guide, bursting with texturesamples, photographic reference points and important comic panels to helpsteer all artists involved in the project.

One of the earliest tasks involved defining the map of Wakanda, not justto trace the players’ journey through War For Wakanda’s roller coastercampaign, but to mentally plant the artists inside the lands they needed toforge and to help absorb its topography and history. Driven by the imageryand history of Uganda (the real-world location of Wakanda’s setting) andits neighboring countries, Crystal Dynamics envisioned the land as it wouldhave looked after being reforged by the giant vibranium meteorite impact.Wakanda needed to feel like a contiguous space: an astronomical basin filledwith shattered cliffs and subsidiary impact zones, long-since blanketed byvegetation and structures to create beautiful and far-reaching player sightlines filled with detail.

In doing so, it became apparent that Crystal Dynamics needed to shapetwo Wakandas: the ancient and the modern. Millennia-old temples andpassageways, and present-day skyscrapers and outposts, all populatedwith age-appropriate technologies far more advanced than anything foundelsewhere on Earth in the same time periods, due to the integration ofWakanda’s super-metal, vibranium. “So that started that issue of: ‘Okay, nowwe’ve doubled our work, as rather than just doing one architecture style, nowwe’ve got two architectural styles’,” says Adams.

One mitigating factor to help deal with this challenge was the idea of atechnological through-line linking all ancient and modern elements. “Wethought of ancient and modern maps as being two sides of the same coin,”says Adams. “A coffee mug, say, has been designed that way for a long time,because the idea of a handle to keep you from touching hot liquid is a goodidea, but the manufacturing process, and the expression of what that handlefeels like, can graduate and become different; more modernized.

“If we had an idea for a modern feature, and needed a version for the ancient

feature, we reverse-engineered it to satisfy the older take,” Adams elaborates.“That back-and-forth across the visual design of the game established a clearpicture of how modern Wakanda saw its past as prologue, and builds on thoseclassic ideas for future innovation.”

The team took the approach that everything you see and interact withinside Wakanda is an opportunity for storytelling. In some cases, it’s relativelyexplicit: Ancient items only contain forged states of vibranium, as thatrepresented the limitations of metallurgy thousands of years in the past.Whereas modern manufacturing capabilities mean features such as punch-plates and shoot-plates incorporate programmable, ferrofluid vibranium to