Thanks to its popularity that seems to continue growing, Marvel Rivalshas been suffering from leaks that are revealing NetEase's plans potentially a year from now, if Season 1's length is anything to go by. Leaks have been a problem for Marvel Rivals even before the game came out, but after an incredibly successful launch and a seemingly constant increase in the player base, there doesn't seem to be any way to stop the constant stream of leaks. Characters from seasons far beyond the first are already common knowledge, and it is becoming a question of when, not who.
The who in question has always been incredibly interesting, since NetEase isn't always making the obvious picks for its golden goose. Despite the popularity of the Marvel IP and many of its characters, Marvel Rivals has a fair number of reasonably obscure characters in its roster. Of course, comic fans will know who these characters are, but to the wide audience that only knows superheroes from the biggest films, Marvel Rivals could be the introduction to these characters, such as Jeff the Land Shark, Luna Snow, and Cloak and Dagger, and it seems like NetEase knows this.
New Marvel Rivals Leaks Cover Obscure Characters
Along With Some Famous Names
As reported by X0XLeak on X, who has been a reliable source for Marvel Rivals leaks since the game's release, Professor X, Jia Jiang, Paste Pot Pete, Colossus, and Locus will join the roster at some point. While Professor X and Colossus are famous figures in the X-Men comics and used in numerous films in the 20th Century Fox franchise, most probably won't have heard of Jia Jiang, Locus, and the ridiculously named Paste Pot Pete. This continues a trend of adding obscure characters purely based on what NetEase thinks it can do with them.
Jia Jiang, likely referring to Jiang Li, is a relatively new character added in the 2021 Shang Chi run, while Locus is a member of the Mutant Liberation front, who had run-ins with X-Force. The strangest of the additions is Paste Pot Pete, also known as Trapster, which was made by Stan Lee back in 1962. He was originally called Paste Pot Pete in his appearance in the Strange Tales, but was known as Trapster in his Fantastic Four Vol 1 appearance in 1965, seemingly tied to The Fantastic Four as a relatively low-level threat villain.
The Fantastic Four made their first comic book appearance in 1961, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Even when these newest character leaks are added to the rest of the leaks, it is curious that there are still a lot of big names that don't seem to be in the plans. Yes, characters like Ultron and Blade are on the cards, but popular X-Men like Gambit, Rogue, Cyclops, and Jean Grey have yet to be leaked. There are still plenty of popular characters from the MCU that are yet to receive any news regarding their Marvel Rivals addition, such as Ant-Man, Thanos, Wasp, and Killmonger, yet the roster for the game is already so massive.
Marvel Rivals Has Already Gone Off The Beaten Path
NetEase Isn't Relying On The MCU's Popularity
Although the characters just feel right now, at the time, Marvel Rivals' launch roster would have raised a few eyebrows. Yes, there were founding Avengers like Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hulk, and so on, but there were also lesser-known X-Men like Magik and Psylocke, and oddball characters like Jeff the Land Shark.Marvel Rivals seems to have unlimited access to the Marvel brand when it comes to whom NetEase can add, and the developer is going beyond just the film franchises and series that have made many characters popular with mainstream audiences.
Psylocke's default skin seems to draw inspiration from her appearance in Demon Days X-Men, with her being called Sai in the game, just like the comic series.
It would have been far easier to stick with the characters that everyone knows to drum up popularity right from the get-go, but the 20 million players that have tried the game in the first fortnight prove that this wasn't necessary. Having only half the roster be popular characters that mainstream audiences know, while filling the other half with characters only comic fans know, was a brave decision that helped NetEase make characters fit the game rather than the other way round. One of Marvel Rivals' most popular characters didn't even originate in a comic book.
While some fans mained heals since day one, it seems that the addition of Invisible Woman has caused DPS and Tank players to lock in fast.
Luna Snow was made for another game, Marvel Future Fight, and made her comic debut in Agents of Atlas. She has never had a solo comic run, but her sheer popularity from Marvel Rivals will likely change that, as she has emerged as one of the mascots for the game. Another that has benefited massively from their exposure in Marvel Rivals is Jeff the Landshark, who began life in a Gwenpool comic run. Although he has a solo comic series, Jeff's modern popularity can largely be attributed to Marvel Rivals and its ever expanding player base.
Having More Than Just The Popular Heroes Is A Good Thing
More Characters Can Become Just As Popular
Custom image by Katarina Cimbaljevic
Obscure characters benefiting from added publicity and popularity is not a bad thing. It shouldn't be forgotten how obscure the likes of Ant-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy were before their debuts on the big screen, but now, almost everyone who has watched a super-hero movie knows who these characters are, thanks to the MCU. Despite not being on the same scale, Marvel Rivals has shown a similar effect with characters like Luna Snow and Jeff in particular, and leaked characters like Hit-Monkey and Paste Pot Pete could benefit from it too.
Mr. Fantastic's addition to Marvel Rivals has led to discussion online on the character's abilities and design, potentially leading to a meta change.
Using the more obscure characters also has the benefit of ensuring that the right characters come to the game at the right time. It helps NetEase constantly add characters to Marvel Rivals without forcing popular characters in just because there is high demand for them and making uninspired designs. It lets NetEase work on the characters that it thinks will fit the game best, and it isn't as though popular characters aren't being added at all, with the first batch of post-launch heroes being The Fantastic Four, perhaps Marvel's most famous team.
The downside of this is that players will have to wait a long time for the likes of Thanos, Ant-Man, Carnage, and others who have yet to be leaked, but it does mean that some players could find their new, favorite character. Some may have thought that Wolverine or Spider-Man would be their main going into Marvel Rivals, but ended up playing Magik and Psylocke. Marvel Rivals will bring more popular characters into the fold at the rate it is going, but it could also help players discover a new character to love.
Custom image by Katarina Cimbaljevic
Custom image by Katarina Cimbaljevic
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