Highlights

  • Marvel Rivals adapts Marvel lore into a 6v6 hero shooter format with familiar characters and original storylines.
  • The game's limited team size may pose challenges for adapting large-scale comic events like Civil War or Secret Wars.
  • Future events could introduce iconic characters like Captain America and Captain Marvel, potentially changing gameplay dynamics.

Marvel Rivals is only a couple of weeks away from being revealed in full with its closed alpha test in May and it’ll be interesting to see how the Marvel property is being adapted to meet Overwatch’s 6v6 hero shooter template. There is much to discern about which characters have already been announced and how they’ll all meld in a mixing pot of abilities, kits, and playstyles, and when Marvel Rivals eventually launches it’ll be interesting to see how post-launch or perhaps seasonal content will be doled out.

Being a Marvel game, Rivals will presumably have access to a wealth of source material lore to adapt while telling its original multiverse story. Hopping to different realities as set pieces gives Rivals an infinite number of intriguing plots to deliver or versions of characters and storylines that are familiar and beloved, too, and several comic book arcs would already make for phenomenal content if NetEase wished to adapt them as in-game events.

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Possible Marvel Comics Events Marvel Rivals Could Adapt

  • Civil War
  • Civil War 2
  • Secret Wars
  • Contest of Champions

As a 6v6, Marvel Rivals Inherently Limits Itself Regarding Team-Ups

Marvel Rivals isn’t necessarily going to need to come up with a reason for traditionally friendly characters to battle each other. Still, the fact that Rivals is a 6v6 game means that battles in the comics ordinarily composed of hundreds of characters could feel a bit stifled or underwhelming comparatively.

Civil War as a potential event would have immediate issues if adapted to a 6v6 hero shooter for this reason because Rivals would be subjecting itself to the same problem the MCU’s Captain America: Civil War had, which was a two-sided war consisting of far fewer fighters than its source material had depicted. Plus, if Rivals was to adapt both Civil Wars faithfully, it would mean Iron Man is a team leader twice and that could put undue importance on him as a character while others fall by the wayside.

If faithful, these events would also seemingly need the most prolific characters featured in them, and neither Captain America nor Captain Marvel will seemingly be in the game at launch.

This gives NetEase something to work toward in the future if it wants to, though, where these characters’ introductions in post-launch content could be part of a Civil War event debut. Otherwise, events would probably be more ideal if they allowed players to compose teams however they’d like instead, even if boons were granted for playing as particular characters during certain events.

It’s ultimately unknown at the moment how Rivals will choose to structure content, but tapping into Marvel lore is a unique opportunity it has that shouldn’t be squandered. Skins inspired by Marvel media would be appreciated and expected, for instance, but fully fledged events influenced by stories where characters took sides and engaged in battles already make perfect sense in a game like Rivals and Battleworld seems like a shoo-in for a multiversal world players could inevitably visit as a result.

Regardless, only having six characters on either side might not ever seem as epic or cinematic as Civil War or Secret Wars’ large-scale battles were. Instead, Rivals could create its own canon and new reasons why heroes are fighting one another to make 6v6 fights intimate and spectacular on their own. Until then, May’s closed alpha test will hopefully be a revealing insight into what these battles will look like as Rivals is quickly becoming one of the most anticipated Marvel games around.