Marvel Rivals Can Pull Characters From 85 Years of Comics — Including the Weird Ones

Marvel Rivals Phoenix (Credit: Netease)

Marvel Rivals will never run out of heroes to add, thanks to its developer NetEase having full access to the entire 85-year legacy of Marvel Comics. The team behind the game has confirmed they can use any character — from iconic Avengers to the most bizarre background mutants — and they’re planning to do exactly that.

The upcoming Season 3 update, “The Abyss Awakens,” will introduce Blade and Jean Grey (Phoenix), but that’s just the beginning. NetEase plans to roll out a new character every month, a pace that sets it apart from most other hero-based PvP games. This ambitious schedule has led fans to wonder: will the developers eventually run out of familiar faces? According to NetEase, not a chance.

In an interview with VideoGamer, game director Guangyun Chen explained that the team has the creative freedom to pull from the “full Marvel universe,” covering everything published across more than eight decades. “We’re licensed to explore over 85 years of Marvel characters,” Chen said, emphasizing that the roster won’t be limited to just the blockbuster names. “We want to shine a light on some lesser-known yet equally fascinating characters,” he added.

That promise is already evident in the game’s current lineup, which mixes household names like Iron Man and Captain America with offbeat picks like Jeff the Land Shark and Squirrel Girl. But Chen’s comments hint that we haven’t seen anything yet — especially when fans are rallying online for characters like Big Wheel, The Wall, Soft Serve, Doop, or Howard the Duck.

Chen noted that the community response so far has been “overwhelmingly positive,” especially toward unconventional picks. “It’s incredibly rewarding to see players connect with our choices,” he said. That kind of feedback is pushing the team to continue surprising players with characters that bring something fresh to both gameplay and story.

So if you're hoping to see your favorite obscure Marvel character show up in the roster someday, don’t rule it out. If they exist in a comic book panel somewhere — no matter how strange — there’s a decent chance they might land in Marvel Rivals.