Marvel Rivals’ Best New Feature is Hopefully Just Around…

Marvel Rivals has not only had fairly consistent balance alongside an impressive output of playable content, but its cosmetic game is astounding. Unlike the ill-fated Marvel’s Avengers, the free-to-play game had MCU skins ready to go on day one and has kept them coming at a steady pace, while also offering original looks and comic-inspired designs constantly. Exceptional battle passes, free events with exciting skins, and mostly well-priced store skins have made it so that a recent loot box leak isn’t raising that many alarm bells.

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While gaming has had its share of problematic loot boxes in the past, the days of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s supply drops and Battlefront 2’s pay-to-win crates are no more, with Overwatch 2’s recent handling of loot boxes being a tremendous example of how they can add to an experience. Though there is a chance Marvel Rivals mishandles them, post-launch features like accessories being fully earnable and not paid is a good sign. Really, the biggest concern is that the game lacks enough cosmetic to fill out loot boxes, but perhaps NetEase will just integrate the boxes further down the road to account for this. Regardless, there’s another possible cosmetic to be more excited for: Mythic rarity skins.

Marvel Rivals’ Hypothetical Mythic Skins Could Learn From a Dead Fighting Game

Admittedly, there is not much hard evidence that Marvel Rivals will get mythic skins, with the closest ‘proof’ being a datmined red rarity icon that has gone unused this far. It does fit in nicely with the existing mythic symbols, and the icon’s presence on the third party website rivalsskins keeps it fresh in fans’ minds, though it could always just be an idea that was scrapped during development. Outside this symbol, there’s the simple fact that Marvel Rivals has been steadily adding virtually every type of cosmetic to the game, with special ultimate animations and joint emotes showing that no stone will be unturned. It’s only a matter of time before the few missing cosmetic types, like announcer voice packs, loading screens, and — of course — mythic skins, are added to the game.

Marvel Rivals’ Zombie Strange skin from Multiverse of Madness was rumored to be a mythic, but it turned out to just be a highly detailed Legendary.

However, while Marvel Rivals can certainly look to Overwatch 2 for inspiration on how to handle a loot box system, that game’s Mythics have been a mixed bag with fans. As such, a better inspiration would be the now-sunset MultiVersus. While this platform fighter had its share of issues, which eventually led to an early demise for the game, it absolutely nailed its special cosmetics. Jake from Adventure Time’s Legendary, for instance, completely changed his dialogue and voice actor to that of Cake the Cat, the genderbent version of Jake from Ice King’s fan fiction. Player First going the extra mile made this skin truly spectacular, and it’s something that NetEase should strive to do with all its Mythics.

Instead of taking the Overwatch 2 route of customizable skins with voice filters attached, Marvel Rivals’ best Mythic formula could be to reserve the category for skins that entirely transform the look and vibe of a character. Distinct animations for every attack, altered emotes, a completely different face and character model, and a fresh voice actor could all be ways that NetEase makes its Mythics feel special. Considering how much players look forward to hearing new pre-match dialogue whenever new heroes are added, this would be a great way to add more conversations without having to make an entirely new character. Though their attacks and abilities could get a fresh coat of paint, they would work the same, shaking things up just enough.

multiversus-cake-skin — Multiversus cake the cat

Marvel Rivals Has no Shortage of Mythic Skin Options

The Marvel universe has no shortage of similar-feeling characters, as there have been plenty of successors to the same mantle or figures with the same powers througout the long history of the company’s comics. If Marvel Rivals’ cosmetic lineup ever expands to include Mythics that fully transform a character, there is a near-endless world of opportunities to consider, with options including:

Abomination and Red Hulk variants of Hulk
A Yelena Belova variant of Black Widow
Jane Foster and Beta Ray Bill variants of Thor
A War Machine variant of Iron Man
A Carnage variant of Venom
A Kate Bishop variant of Hawkeye
Daken and Sabretooth variants of Wolverine
Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Gwen, and many more variants of Spider-Man
A Sylvie variant of Loki
Clea and Wong variants of Doctor Strange
Shuri and Killmonger variants of Black Panther
A US Agent variant of Captain America

The list of potential mythics would only grow larger with future roster additions, as Marvel Rivals’ rumored Deadpool could run wild with variants, with Lady Deadpool being only the tip of the iceberg. Considering how Marvel Rivals still has a lot of popular characters to add, but NetEase has mentioned being interested in adding more niche figures to the game, this kind of approach could be a way for the developer (and fans) to have its cake and eat it too. Hopefully, Mythic skins as special as the one for Jake the Dog in MultiVersus are on the table, as they could work wonders for the popular hero shooter's roster.

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