His portrayal of Kratos in God of War is iconic and classic. He is the literal voice of Kratos, even though he wasn’t the one who voiced the popular anger-fueled fictional half-deity in earlier entries. Now, Judge is set to lend his talents to Crystal Dynamics’ superhero video game, Marvel’s Avengers, as the voice of the latest character to join its expanding roster of heroes.
Judge takes on Black Panther role for Marvel’s Avengers
According to a report from Entertainment Weekly, Judge initially turned down the role to voice King T’Challa in Marvel’s Avengers. He reasoned that it was because of the legacy of Chadwick Boseman. The late actor died in 2020 after battling colon cancer for four years. Before his untimely death, he would go on to earn critical acclaim for his portrayal of King T’Challa and his superhero alter-ego, Black Panther, in four MCU movies, starting with 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. Judge explained that he later changed his mind after his mother and children said that they’d disown him if he turned down the role. According to Judge, he was “fearful of being compared to what Chadwick had so wonderfully done”. He later explained that he would not attempt “a voice match” and would let his “performance stand on its own.” He now hopes that people will like his rendition of Black Panther, which is set to debut in August 2021 in the War for Wakanda expansion for Marvel’s Avengers. Of course, the biggest question here is if the addition of War for Wakanda is enough to reinvigorate the dying player base of Marvel’s Avengers. Earlier this year, we used Marvel’s Avengers as an example of what not to do for Hogwarts Legacy. Nearly half a year later, we still stand by it. The game hasn’t recovered from its disappointing launch, which is surprising. It was deemed too big to fail because the game is based on a comic series with a movie franchise that remains just as popular as ever following the season finale of Loki. If it’s any consolation, Marvel’s Avengers has experienced an uptick in player count whenever DLC has been released. The last DLC, which revolved around Hawkeye and also introduced the next-gen version of the game, led to a slight increase in the game’s popularity. While it wasn’t significant, more players still means there is some positive momentum. We’ll find out soon enough if War for Wakanda will move the needle enough for Marvel’s Avengers to change people’s minds. Otherwise, Judge’s performance will be wasted and we could be looking at the game going the freemium route soon enough. Either way, we’ll just be happy to hear Judge soon. Earlier this year, the next God of War game was delayed to 2022.
