Entering Contest of Champions: Erik Killmonger

Erik Killmonger, longtime nemesis of The Black Panther, enters “Marvel Contest of Champions” today! He threatens T’Challa no matter where the King goes—from Wakanda to the cosmic Battlerealm! To celebrate the villain’s arrival in the mobile game, we talked to Kabam Lead Character Artist Gene Campbell, Game Designer Piero Herrera, and Product Marketing Manager Vincent Huynh to get all the details.

Marvel.com: Battlerealm is getting an infusion of a classic Wakandan villain! This wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” hitting theaters this weekend, would it?

Gene Campbell: Of course it does! All of us here on Contest of Champions are huge fans of the films, like you would expect. We were already hyped for the upcoming “Black Panther” movie. The team always gets super excited when we get the chance to release a build alongside a big event like this, and even more so when we can be inspired by one of the main villains of the film!

Marvel.com: How closely did you work with Marvel Studios to get all of Erik Killmonger’s costume details just right?

Gene Campbell: So much detail and thought goes into creating these amazing cinematic costumes for the big screen. It’s very important to us that we can get as close to these designs as possible. We gather all the great reference from the Marvel Studios team and keep checking in with the cinematic teams to make sure we are getting all those design points correct so we can honor all the hard work and attention to detail that went into making the costumes of “Black Panther.”

Marvel.com: And what about his abilities? Where does this character excel?

Piero Herrera: Erik Killmonger has one of the best defensive abilities in the game when you play him offensively. Whenever activating a Special 2 Attack, he will receive Indestructible Charges that enables him to withstand the opponent’s Special 3 Attack without taking damage. He also has something called Counterpunch Charges, which enables him to shrug off the impact of the opponent’s attack when he is blocking, allowing him to immediately start his own combo. Use this against Stun Immune opponents!

Marvel.com: We know that Erik wants to take T’Challa out by any means necessary, but who else is best equipped to help him survive the ravages of Battlrealm?

Piero Herrera: Put him on a same team with Winter Soldier, Black Panther (Civil War), and Void to maximize Killmonger’s power. Those synergies will provide various bonuses like Regeneration and easier ways to get True Strike, which should help a lot against Champions who Evade such as Spider-Man.

Marvel.com: And he’s available today?

Piero Herrera: Yes! Players will be able to utilize Erik Killmonger starting February 15! Check in-game messages for more information.

Marvel.com: Anything else we need to know about the character or other Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” related events?

Vincent Huynh: If you’re looking to battle the real Erik Killmonger, head to our Event Quests page and challenge Michael B. Jordan’s hand picked team of characters in his Champion Challenge! This quest will only be live until February 21, so test your skills today to get some awesome rewards!

Stay tuned to Marvel.com and @MarvelGames on Twitter for more “Marvel Contest of Champions” news and interviews!