Summary
Marvel Rivalshas provided a better look at its depiction of one of Marvel’s most popular superheroes: Spider-Man. The 6v6 co-op title by NetEase features a roster of Marvel characters from across the Avengers, X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more, with characters who haven’t been portrayed as often in mainstream media, such as Luna Snow or Magik.Marvel Rivalsalso has the potential to play with different versions of these characters as they battle their way through various alternate dimensions and timelines.
Select PC players were able to get hands-on with the title in a Closed Alpha that ran from May 10th to May 20th. As a result,much of the gameplay involving the characters' different skills and abilities was shared online alongside first impressions of how each hero handlesand which ones areinsanely overpowered in combat. Alongside the reveal thatMarvel Rivalswould also be coming to consoles and would feature Venom and Adam Warlock, NetEase has offered players the chance to, which will run from July 23 until August 5.
Every Character Confirmed For Marvel Rivals (So Far)
Marvel Rivals features some of Marvel’s most popular characters from the Avengers, X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more!
Marvel Rivals Spider-Man Trailer Provided A Better Look At Gameplay
Spider-Man Will Fall Under The Game’s Duelist Class
Marvel Rivals' newFriendly Neighborhood Spider-Mantrailer showed some gameplay footage that shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to those who have been followingMarvel Rivals' Closed Alpha online. The hero uses some of his classic moves, such as web-swinging through Neo-Tokyo and running along walls, before zipping to opponents and fighting them in a blend of aerobatic moves and ground-based combat that features plenty of ranged web abilities to either pull a character nearer or reduce their health from afar.
The new trailer also stated that Spider-Man - who was notably referred to by his alter ego, Peter Parker, suggesting other Spider-Men, such as Miles Morales, could join the game at a later date - would fall underMarvel Rivals' Duelist class. Despite each character having their own unique abilities,Marvel Rivals' roles are divided into three main categories: Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist.These mirror the roles available inOverwatch, where Duelist is essentially DPS, Vanguard is Tank, and Strategist is Support.
Duelists are the largest group inMarvel Rivalscurrently, and whereas Vanguards can soak up incoming damage and Strategists are great for healing and supporting the wider team, Duelists' gameplay centers around dealing out maximum damage with abilities that only affect themselves. Therefore, players will normally find that Duelist heroes are best positioned behind their team’s Vanguards but in front of their team’s Strategists, or on the enemy’s flank, as all of their ultimate abilities are focused on damage and eliminations.
Other Duelists available inMarvel Rivals' closed Alpha included:
Marvel Rivals' Spider-Man Has One Ability Insomniac Desperately Needs For Spider-Man 3
Following the launch of Marvel Rivals' closed alpha, players have been able to analyze Spider-Man’s gameplay and how it compares to Insomniac’s games.
Two New Spider-Man Suits Were Revealed In The New Footage
With One Being A Comic Callback And Another Representing A Spider-Variant
TheFriendly Neighborhood Spider-Mantrailer also revealedtwo new suits for Peter Parker that didn’t seem to be present in the Closed Alpha: Spider-Punk and the Bombastic Bag Man. Both choices make sense, as they are fan favorites. However, the character of Spider-Punk isn’t actually Peter Parker, but rather Hobie Brown, a Spider-Man from Earth-138 who has appeared in many multiversal stories, from theSpider-Versecomics to the recentSpider-Man:Across the Spider-Verseanimated movie.
Marvel Rivals' Spider-Punk outfit comes complete with an electric guitar that also has “Hobie” written on a sticker upon its side.
It’s also worth noting thatwhile the Bombastic Bag Man costume has retained the paper bag mask that earned it its name, it varies from its comic book origins. As part of the originalAmazing Spider-Mancomics' Symbiote storyline, Johnny Storm (AKA The Human Torch) gave Peter a spare Fantastic Four uniform and a paper bag mask to help conceal his identity after he first removed the Venom symbiote. While other appearances, such as theBag Man costume inMarvel’s Spider-Man- which was added in a post-launch patch alongside the Future Foundation suit - sport the Fantastic Four design, the version present inMarvel Rivalsdoesn’t, asPeter seems to be wearing his Empire State University clothes with the bag mask instead.
While the glimpse of Bag Man inAcross the Spider-Versealso didn’t have the Fantastic Four imagery, this made sense due to that movie being made by Sony, which doesn’t own the rights to characters in the wider Marvel Universe. Its omission as a suit in Marvel Rivals is interesting, as Marvel owns the rights to The Fantastic Four and even has the daughter of one of their main antagonists, Galactus, in the game, even more so asthe traditional look is referenced as a keychain on the backpack for the Bag Man suit.
Therefore, it’s possible that despite an upcoming feature film by Marvel Studios, The Fantastic Four may not appear at all inMarvel Rivals, or that they are being saved for a later day, in which case it’s interesting that Marvel and NetEase opted to have the Bag Man costume in the game beforehand instead of one of the many other looks the webhead has sported over the years. Time will tell whether this is the case, and for now, players can look forward to the launch of the Closed Beta and taking the game’s version of Peter Parker for a spin on July 23.
