Marvel Rivals characters have shown that Netease Games is willing to run the gamut- the upcoming Overwatch-like has broken the curse of games only echoing the MCU by containing more comic-exclusive picks like Peni Parker and Magik as well as featuring Galacta, daughter of Galactus.
For those of you who might have missed the announcement, Marvel Rivals is an upcoming 6v6 hero shooter coming to PC developed by Netease Games. The game features a fair amount of unique spins, from destructible environments to team-up attacks between characters.
Currently, here’s the confirmed roster of Marvel Rivals characters:
- Iron Man
- The Hulk/ Bruce Banner
- Spider-Man
- Doctor Strange
- Groot
- Rocket Raccoon
- Magik
- Luna Snow
- Namor
- Black Panther
- Loki
- Peni Parker
- Storm
- Magneto
- Star-Lord
- Mantis
- The Punisher
- Scarlet Witch
The Marvel Rivals Characters Wishlist
However, as with all hero shooters, there’s always room to grow. With that in mind, here’s some other Marvel Rivals characters that’d be great additions to the game’s lineup, totally not chosen because of my own personal biases.
Remember, just like how Gundam Evolution shone the spotlight on some lesser-known mobile suits the point of Marvel Rivals characters should be much the same- the game has a lot of potential to dig out the next fan-favorite character- and that’s how I made this list.
Agent Venom
Symbiotes are some of Spider-Man’s most iconic villains, with Venom in particular getting a multiple reworks, facelifts and more, only to always fall back on Eddie Brock.
One particular incarnation of Venom that seems to be on the up-and-up is Agent Venom- the persona of the Venom symbiote worn by Spider-Man fanboy and Peter Parker bully Flash Thompson. This isn’t a plea to read the original Agent Venom run (but this is, it’s very good)- I stand here to convince you with the fact that Agent Venom just looks cool.
His suit ditches the typical Venom “Hulked out Spider-Man” aesthetic in favor of looking like body armor and using more guns, almost like the War Machine to Spider-Man’s Iron Man. You may be thinking that that’s a betrayal about what Venom is, but hold up: he totally uses symbiote tendrils to fire more guns than he should, and he does eventually hulk out into a more classic Venom if he loses control.
Given the fact that the suit is popular enough to have been in both Ultimate Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (minus the sub-narrative of getting your legs blown off and being a drunk burnout), I honestly think we’ll see it in Marvel Rivals at some point. He’d be a cool DPS hero given the character’s more unique focus on guns, and can have a Winston-like berserk mode for fans of classic Venom.
Doctor Doom
To me, Doctor Doom is peak Marvel. I own a well-used copy of How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way and the man graces almost every section, showing you just how to push character and drama to give everything that classic Marvel oomph.
Yet despite that, the ongoing legal woes has made Marvel shy away from their favorite hater in the past decade. The dude’s an absolute legend, existing for only two major grudges- one with Mephisto (which personally, wile cool, I always felt like was a bit too much of an attempt to make him feel sympathetic) and one with the actual devil, Reed Richards. He uses some of the major power sources in the Marvel universe- he’s got sorcery, technology, money and apparently fragments of the true cross? Legend.
Playstyle wise there’s so many interpretations of Doctor Doom you could draw on for the character. My only gripe would be with anyone making him a support- Doom is no such man, unless all his healing items attach a “The Fantastic 4 suck” flag to your character. He could potentially be an interesting tank- using forcefields to protect himself and anyone smart enough to be standing behind him from oncoming damage.
One request, though, Marvel: Let him keep the Foot Dive.
Paul
Arguably the greatest villain Marvel’s ever written, Paul’s a newer addition to Spider-Man’s Rogues Gallery. The crimes he’s committed are the best kind- deeply personal, and its part of why I think he deserves to get his game debut, as the first real Spider-Man villain among the Marvel Rivals characters.
What did he do? Well, he uh.
He stole his girlfriend, man.
As an avatar of the cosmic entity Marvel Editorial, Paul exists to make sure we never get a status quo that involves Peter Parker being happily married. Spider-Man is basically an idol now, being disbarred from matrimony because he’s everyone’s Spider-Man, and can’t belong to any one redhead no matter how hot.
As for abilities, um. He could be a support! Yeah. That would work. The sight of his well-adjusted family life and smokin’ hot wife could buff all the heroes on your team, unless you’re Spider-Man where it puts you at 1HP. As for his ult, he could probably target one Spider-Man on the map and just off them. That’s not Paul doing it, that’s for when he channels Marvel Editorial.
We still don’t know much about the upcoming Marvel Rivals characters. There’s a playtest coming up in May, so we’ll definitely know more about how this game is going to stack up against an embattled Overwatch 2 or the wreckage of Gundam Evolution.
Still, I implore you, Marvel. There’s a lot of really fun characters to pick out from. With an expansive list of characters stretching multiple eras of comics, we have a real chance at putting the spotlight on some bizarre Marvel Rivals characters instead of the usual Avengers characters. Heck, we can even skip out on Deadpool this time and go for some deeper cuts, like Shuma Gorath, who I know nothing about outside of his inclusion in Marvel Vs Capcom.
Or if it has to be an Avenger, it may as well be Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ Wasp. Because god knows the waifus will save this game.
