The newest skin for one ofMarvel Rivals’ most iconic characters has been a long time coming. Art for the game’s Gothic Recursion collection has been available inMarvel Rivalsfor quite some time, with the superheroes featured in this collection depicted in a Season 1 gallery card that players could obtain during the Midnight Features event. Black Panther is the last of these heroes to receive his Gothic Recursion skin.
There are three Rare skins in the Gothic Recursion collection, serving as recolors for Invisible Woman (Blood Shield), Human Torch (Blood Blaze), and Moon Knight (Blood Moon Knight). Epic costumes for the collection are much more elaborate, with Adam Warlock (Blood Soul), Iron Man (Blood Edge Armor), Wolverine (Blood Berserker), Psylocke (Blood Kariudo),and Winter Soldier (Blood Soldier), all receiving these costumes earlier in Season 1 in different drops. However, Black Panther’s “Thrice-Cursed King” is not only different from the rest of the Gothic Recursion collection in terms of naming convention; it’s also rooted in one key storyline from Marvel Comics.
The Thrice-Curse King Could be Based on the Blood Hunt Arc
Leaked images ofhow the Thrice-Cursed King costume will looksuggest that its “First Appearance” blurb will categorize the skin as aMarvel Rivalsoriginal rather than a comic-based skin. Despite this, the inspiration for the new Black Panther costume takes some inspiration fromBlack Panther:Blood Hunt(2024). The literal clothing itself seems to be aMarvel Rivalsoriginal, explaining the categorization, as the elaborate super suit featuring silver armor, magenta and lilac highlights, and gargoyle shoulder pads, is not present inBlood Hunt.
Rather, the Thrice-Cursed King skin pays homage toBlood Huntthrough T’Challa’s physical appearance. The costume shows the Black Panther with bright yellow eyes, a beard, and most importantly, pointed bat-like ears. Considering that thefirst art inMarvel Rivalsof the Thrice-Cursed Kingfeatured Black Panther fighting Dracula, maintaining these physical changes is interesting consideringBlood Hunt’s storyline.
What is Black Panther’s Role in the Blood Hunt Arc?
TheBlood Huntcrossover event featured one mainline run, with several tie-in limited series and one-shots. Black Panther was one character who received a limited series to tie into the event. Hence, the three-issueBlack Panther: Blood Huntseries was created. The main plot of the entire arc kicks off with the Darkforce Dimension emptying onto Earth, blocking out the Sun and transforming notable heroes into portals.Blade himself goes from vampire hunterto vampire leader, a drastic shift in his identity and personal creed.
This shift also reveals thatBlack Pantherhas become a vampire, withBlack Panther: Blood Huntdepicting T’Challa’s fight with the creatures before his transformation. In the limited series, Black Panther must defend Wakanda from the Adze, a group of African vampires first introduced inTomb of Dracula Vol. 4(2005) #4. Blade advises T’Challa on the vampire infestation, though his tone later shifts when he tells Black Panther to find certain temples, or risk Blade’s destruction of Wakanda.
Back inBlood Hunt’s main storyline, Black Panther learns that Varnae is possessing Blade. Anuket tells him to destroy Varnae’s temple inBlack Panther: Blood Hunt#2, though they instead contact Impossible City to send the temple to Central Park. Before T’Challa learns of Blade’s possession, he is first ordered to re-target certain Mass-Translocation Drives, which summons Atlantis’ Temple of the First Blasphemy from under the sea. Not all is lost for Earth’s mightiest heroes.Scarlet Witch eventually freesBlade from Varnae’s possession and T’Challa returns to human form as his healing factor gradually reserves his vampiric transformation.
Marvel Rivals’ big bad for Season 1 being Draculamakes theBlood Huntconnection all the more plausible, as he is yet another character who received a limited series tie-in to the mainBlood Huntarc. Nevertheless, it seems thatMarvel Rivalshas chosen Black Panther to introduce theBlood Huntcomics to gamers, though his costume may look drastically different from his comic book appearance.
