It’s Official: Marvel Rivals Is Now Fully Canon In The Comics

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Amazing Spider-Man #25

Marvel Comics just pulled off one of its most meta crossovers yet with the ever-popular Marvel Rivals. While the game itself has featured some impressive skins inspired by the comics, MCU, and more, Marvel just took the synergy between Rivals and the comics to a whole new level.

Launching in 2024, Marvel Rivals has become one of the most trending video games in recent memory, a free-to-play team-based hero shooter featuring a wide roster of classic heroes and villains. Now, Rivals surprisingly exists within the official Marvel Universe canon itself.

Marvel Rivals Is Now An Official Video Game In The Marvel Universe Itself

This new reveal comes in Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness' Amazing Spider-Man #25, where Dylan Brock (son of Eddie Brock) is shown playing none other than Marvel Rivals.

The panel features Dylan gaming on a “FONY” television, a pretty funny parody of Sony. On the screen, it looks as though Dylan is playing Spider-Man with what looks to be an image pulled straight from the game itself.

We also get some fun dialogue in this new Marvel issue with a complaint being made that "Gambit still hasn't been nerfed", an actual complaint many real-life gamers have made ever since Remy LeBeau was added to the Rivals roster as a new support hero back in November.

As such, it's evident that Marvel Rivals is being treated as a fully realized game in-universe that can be played by its own characters.

Unfortunately, Dylan’s gaming session doesn’t last very long, with the Rivals reveal only lasting for a single page. First, Dylan is interrupted by the infamous Paul Rabin (friggin' Paul), whom Dylan has been staying with amid his ongoing issues with his father. However, this is followed by a far more dangerous interruption with the arrival of Marvel's brand-new serial-killing supervillain Torment.

Engaging in a brutal pattern where he eliminates family members before closing in on his primary targets, it looks as though Torment has Dylan squarely in his sights, with his current targets being Peter Parker, Mary Jane, and Eddie Brock in Marvel's ongoing Death Spiral event (and Torment has already killed Eddie's father).

Nevertheless, the fact that Marvel Rivals now exists as a piece of pop culture within the Marvel Universe itself is a pretty big deal.

Rivals Is Easily One Of Marvel's Biggest Wins Right Now

Marvel Rivals has enjoyed some massive popularity since it first launched in 2024, continuing to be an incredibly fun team hero shooter with ongoing updates and new heroes routinely being added. Despite featuring its own unique style and some impressive new lore, the ways the developers at Netease have honored both the original comics, the MCU, and beyond are quite impressive.

Featuring impressively comic-accurate skins, sprays, and emotes with ties to major moments in Marvel Comics/MCU history, there's no doubt that Rivals has been playing an active part in keeping engagement up with the Marvel franchise as a whole.

There's some real authenticity and genuine passion for the IP that truly does shine with every update. By canonizing Rivals in the comics and mainline continuity, Marvel is definitely acknowledging the cultural impact the game has made now that it's made its way into Earth-616 itself.

As a result, it's pretty cool to see that Rivals has now become part of the Marvel Universe canon itself. One can only hope we might one day see classic Marvel heroes playing as themselves (I'd honestly love to see Spider-Man and more heroes react to their Ultimate abilities).

Amazing Spider-Man #25 is available now from Marvel Comics.

Systems

Released December 6, 2024

ESRB T For Teen // Violence

Engine Unreal Engine 5