The Marvel universe is so vast that games like hero shooter Marvel Rivals and fighting game Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls already have a virtually endless bucket of characters to draw on for their growing rosters. Nevertheless, it sounds like NetEase is at least considering making its own original heroes for Marvel Rivals at some point. You know, if that was something you ever thought about.
MP1st asked Marvel Rivals director Guangyun “Guangguang” Chen if NetEase had considered adding heroes of its own to fight alongside Marvel staples like the Avengers and the Fantastic Four in a future season. After all, other Marvel projects like the MCU movies have created new characters. Would it be out of the question for Rivals to also indulge in making people up to capture an objective or push a payload? Well, Chen says that Marvel has given the team the green light to do that. While he told MP1st the team is “allowed to introduce original characters,” Chen played coy when asked if any are coming down the pipeline, merely saying “stay tuned.”
Maybe my immediate aversion to this is just because Marvel Rivals isn’t even a year old yet, and the thought that someone’s favorite comic book mainstay could get sidelined for some OC cooked up in the NetEase offices feels bad. However, Luna Snow, one of the most popular characters in Marvel Rivals, also started as an original character in the mobile game Marvel Future Fight, which has been a point of contention considering all the attention she gets in terms of cosmetics compared to fan-favorite heroes who originate from the comics. I don’t doubt some interesting heroes might come out of this, but you’re still covering the classics, NetEase, so I hope any original characters you might introduce come after you’ve spent a bit more time filling out the roster with established heroes people are still waiting for.
For more on Marvel Rivals, check out Kotaku’s review.