Marvel Rivals may introduce an original character to its growing lineup of heroes and villains in the future, as revealed in a new report. Such creative freedom could further bolster the content cadence in Marvel Rivals, which has expanded its roster with a few new additions every season till now.
Since hitting the ground running in December 2024, Marvel Rivals has continued to attract a strong number of daily users, partly thanks to new characters being added at regular intervals. While in Season 1, players stepped into the shoes of the Fantastic Four, the second season brought together Ultron and Emma Frost. More recently, the ongoing Season 3 introduced fan-favorite Marvel characters, such as Blade and Phoenix, to its players. With reports of original characters also joining the fray eventually, the upcoming Marvel Rivals content drops could mark a refreshing change.
NetEase May Bring Original Heroes to Marvel Rivals and Do Something Unique
Marvel Rivals Creative Director Guangyun Chen confirmed that NetEase was "allowed to introduce original characters" in the hero shooter title, per MP1st. In other words, the studio can make its own heroes for the game from scratch and doesn't compulsorily have to stick to what's already been established in Marvel's universe. When asked if the Marvel Rivals team had already been working on an original character, he didn't offer a direct answer but briefly stated, "stay tuned." Although this may not guarantee anything, it does suggest that more information in this regard could be dished out at some point in the future.
Although the current strategy of adapting characters from the existing Marvel lore has worked well, the creative freedom to experiment with new characters created specifically for Marvel Rivals promises to open a whole new dimension of possibilities. The introduction of original characters could add unique value to the game and incentivize more Marvel fans to check out these heroes that haven't appeared in any Marvel IP before. On top of that, it could also make roster additions more unpredictable, as players wouldn't really know what kind of abilities they can expect from an original character beforehand. However, given the long list of fan-favorite heroes not yet available in the game, it may be reasonable to expect NetEase to get the popular names onboard before it goes for creating new characters.
Back in February, Marvel Rivals revealed that it is here to stay for a long time, with NetEase committing to at least 10 years of support for the game. Excitingly, in the near future, Marvel enthusiasts look set to get another game eyeing a long-term run, with Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls being confirmed to receive support well into the next console generation.
