There’s a lot of comics. When you mention comic books to the common folk, they’ll tend to think of characters they’ve seen in movies: Batman, Superman, Iron Man, Spider-Man, the folk that have had a lasting impact on a landscape outside of comics. But the thing is, comics are expansive. This week alone, Marvel has released sixteen different issues of currently running series, not including reprints of older books.
Now imagine that on a larger scale, spreading across the annals of history since the 1960s. Some creators want to leave their mark on things, who want to create characters that are memorable and used forever, but not all are successful. For every X-23, you’ve got a Penance. But Marvel Rivals, which was released last week to massive player numbers, has a unique chance here to show players a different side of Marvel, a more niche side, and it’s already evident that this is something that the developers want to do.
As already mentioned, there are already massive steps towards representing the lesser-known side of Marvel in Marvel Rivals. Sure, the major players are still there: Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Hulk, Black Panther, Wolverine, those types of characters. But there are also characters like Iron Fist (specifically the Lin Lie version of the character, who only actually became Iron Fist in 2022), Squirrel Girl (who is more known for out-of-context panels and memes than her actual stories), and Cloak + Dagger (characters who, despite having their own TV show, never really took off to the level of other heroes on the roster).
A large problem with making games about smaller characters is that nobody is really willing to give them the budget. The fact that the Guardians Of The Galaxy got their own (severely underrated) game is entirely down to the fact that, despite all of the odds, the 2014 movie did well and put them into the cultural consciousness. But you’re never seeing an Eternals game, and it’s all down to money. The difference here, when it comes to Marvel Rivals, is that there’s already a proven commitment towards lesser-known characters. It seems that NetEase wants a healthy balance between both the bigger names and the smaller names, and with the sheer ease of access that Marvel has for its books these days (Marvel Unlimited offers the ability to read back issues of books, meaning people who become fans of these characters can read their adventures for a fairly low monthly subscription price), these is the best opportunity to show the full breadth of Marvel’s Universe.
There’s also clearly a desire to get people to try as many characters as they possibly can. Every launch character is completely free, all thirty-three of them, and in an interview with VG247, executive producer Danny Koo said that “no character is off limits.”
“The narrative designers of the team are avid Marvel fans and they’ll bring suggestions out of the blue. Our discussion is about how this character is similar to these other characters. We then talk about each one and pick the strongest one together.”
Indeed, it seems the biggest challenge when it comes to choosing what characters to include in the game is actually figuring out how they work with other characters. Characters have access to “team-ups”, abilities that are activated very specifically if certain characters are on the same team and are working together. These do large amounts of damage or provide boosts, and the possibilities here bring to mind the team moves from the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance series of games. There are so many possibilities here, and with so many characters in the Marvel universe, there’s so much that NetEase could actually do.
But what about on Marvel’s side? How can they allow players to easily explore these characters that they’ve enjoyed playing as in the game? It’s simply, really. They should allow players who use these characters to unlock a digital version of that character’s first appearance. Marvel has been giving out digital codes of new comics with issues purchased by fans, so that they have multiple different ways to actually experience their stories, so why not give free issues out? It’s not like Marvel can’t afford it, and it’s not like there’s not precedent for this. QR Codes in the Disney + series Moon Knight took users to certain issues of the character’s history that related to the specific episode, so why not do this for players of Marvel Rivals, too?
I hope that, in future updates to the game, Marvel Rivals can keep this level of character selection. Sure, it’s really nice to get major characters added to the game (where’s Cyclops, NetEase?), but I’d love to see some smaller characters. Give me some of the New Warriors, give me Blue Marvel, give me Doctor Voodoo, give me Jack of Hearts,get really weird and esoteric with it, and introduce characters to people that they would have otherwise never heard of, because absolutely none of these characters are ever getting a movie or a TV show of their own.
