As has usually been the case with PlayStation State of Plays as of late, fighting game fans got a new look at Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, with another batch of characters being officially confirmed. This time around, Doctor Doom’s allies in the Tokon universe were unveiled, with Magneto, Green Goblin, and Carnage working alongside the sorcerer/dictator/supervillain. While this moment brought plenty of jokes about Doom clearly hating Spider-Man since half the Knights of Doom are Spidey villains, it also brought about a number of sad posts and comments referring to Marvel Rivals’ lack of villains.
With Magneto having been more of an anti-hero for a long time now, 3 of the 4 characters in the Knights of Doom can be considered true villains. And sadly, that’s already more than Rivals offers. Marvel Rivals, even after a year and a half of availability, only features 2 true villains on its playable roster: Hela and Ultron. The rest, like the previously mentioned master of magnetism, the trickster god Loki, and the Lethal Protector, Venom, very much skirt the line. While it’s true that the do-gooders of the Marvel universe have hugely different personalities — Magik is nothing like Squirrel Girl who is nothing like Moon Knight — there’s a ton of desire to see more baddies join the mix. Hopefully, Tokon’s use of villains being met with so much praise will help NetEase realize just how much fans want to see similar additions to its game.
Overwatch and Marvel Rivals Have the Exact Same Problem, and Neither Will Ever Fix It
Regardless of whether I’m playing Marvel Rivals or Overwatch, I run into the same problem, and sadly I don’t see it changing.
Marvel Rivals Has No Shortage of Great Villains to Introduce
Not only is the Marvel universe still packed with popular heroes to add — Captain Marvel, Ghost Rider, and Nightcrawler haven’t even been featured yet — but there are genuinely dozens of great opportunities available to NetEase. Kang’s time travel antics could make for a really fun Ultimate that sees him turning back time, reducing ultimate cooldowns and the fight itself back 30 seconds. If players lost a close team fight, they’d essentially get a chance to retry, doubling the intensity of a match when the scrapped big bad of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga is involved. Doctor Doom himself is a similarly valid option, especially which him being the most important character in Marvel Rivals’ lore, though he’ll likely be added alongside Avengers: Doomsday’s debut later in 2026.
Not every villain addition has to be an Avengers-level threat, though. There’s numerous X-Men villains that could serve as fun additions; Juggernaut as an environment-destroying Vanguard seems like an obvious slam dunk, while Mystique could be an awesome spy-like Duelist character. Similarly, Spidey’s iconic rogues’ gallery presents a host of options. Sandman’s shapeshifting makes it so that he could essentially fill any role like Deadpool, Mysterio’s illusions could confuse the enemy team, and Carnage could infect dead bodies to throw AI-controlled attackers at the enemy team. Green Goblin’s Glider would make him a unique flying hero if it could be destroyed to ground him, while giving Doc Ock some giant arms could make him a formidable Vanguard.
Perhaps what’s strangest of all about Marvel Rivals’ villain gap is that the lore has established several villains that could work as playable characters. The Symbiote God Knull can and should be more than a background character. Then, there’s Kingpin, who even has a fully fleshed out moveset because he serves as a secret boss battle in the Blood Hunt PvE mode. By extension, the same logic applies to Dracula, even if he’s not as big of a name as the other options. Put simply, Marvel Rivals can and should be doing more with the brand’s impressive pool of villains.
Other standout villain options include, but aren’t limited to:
- Mister Sinister
- The Lizard
- Bullseye
- Dormammu
- MODOK
- Klaw
- Purple Man
- Scorpion
- Kraven The Hunter
- Omega Red
Thankfully, It Seems Like Marvel Rivals Got The Message
Fortunately for those desperate to see Marvel Rivals start diversifying its roster in this way, NetEase has seemingly been laying the groundwork for a few villain additions. First and foremost, Thanos seems very likely for Marvel Rivals due to the upcoming tie-in game modes for Infinity War and Endgame, and the Mad Titan is likely someone many will love using (Infinity Gauntlet or not). Additionally, Gorr the God Butcher has leaked, being all-but-confirmed for a future season of the hero shooter. These two characters, plus the inevitable addition of Doctor Doom, would go a long way to fixing Rivals’ villain problem, though they really only should be the tip of the iceberg.
- Released
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December 6, 2024
- ESRB
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T For Teen // Violence
- Developer(s)
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NetEase Games
- Publisher(s)
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NetEase Games
