Marvel Rivals Season 4’s Daredevil is Not Exactly Daredevil

Marvel Rivals hero discussion has certainly been interesting over the last several weeks. After Blade sliced through the roster with a thousand cuts, attention shifted to who could be coming to the game in Season 4. Story teasers and leaks both pointed to the former Spawn character Angela joining the Vanguard category, with the sister of Hela, Thor, and Loki being a much-needed addition to the role. However, while the Asgardian was expected to be (and is now confirmed as) Season 4’s launch hero, the character coming in the midseason update was a lot less clear in the lead-up to the announcement. A recent leak seemingly pulled back the curtain on this character’s identity, with the official reveal now confirming that Daredevil is indeed coming later in Season 4 — though he doesn’t look or fight like fans expect him to.

On paper, Daredevil is a no-brainer for the Marvel Rivals roster. Thanks to Charlie Cox’s portrayal of the vigilante in an excellent Netflix series and strong Disney+ follow-up, as well as roles in The Defenders and a few Spider-Man projects, Daredevil is an instantly recognizable hero for casual fans. Comic readers will be quick to point to his decades of excellent books, too, as he has arguably been the most consistently well-written character in the medium. Oddly enough, though, NetEase isn’t playing it safe with its take on the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, as instead of leaning on all this lore, this new version boasts an asian-inspired design, altered backstory, and what looks to be proper superpowers.

While the hooded King Daredevil outfit has ties to the Hand, and could have been the asian-inspired look referred to in the leaks, an original design is the route NetEase has taken. Daredevil's symbol is glowing in this appearance, and the outfit looks a bit like ancient samurai armor.

NetEase’s Dizang Is a Far Cry From Traditional Daredevil

For months, Marvel Rivals’ lore has been teasing a mysterious man in red, with the two obvious options being Daredevil and Deadpool. While both characters have had their character interactions leaked, suggesting they’ll be coming sooner rather than later, it seems like fans of Marvel’s Merc With a Mouth will have to wait a bit. Daredevil is officially Season 4’s midseason hero, and he boasts a second name in the lore that goes nicely with his new look: Dizang. He's even referred to as Dizang in the description of the Season 4 trailer, suggesting this may be his official name in the game as well.

marvel-rivals-dizang-teaser — Marvel rivals teasing dizang

In Chinese Buddhism, Dizang means “earth treasury” and is a role filled by someone who strives to liberate suffering souls from hell. Thus far, Rivals' Dizang has been positioned as the protector of K’un-Lun (a role traditionally filled by Iron Fist) and has shown forgiveness to Hela even after she joined up with Knull — suggesting his willingness to give second chances. He’s supposedly seeking redemption for his own failures and “sins,” while he refers to God, Hell, and Devils in his dialogue. In Iron Fist’s backstory, he was described as a character who could effortlessly leap between buildings to climb to great heights, while the character looking over Hela in a Season 3 gallery image sported a horned helmet. All of this had fans believing that Daredevil and Dizang were one and the same, which has now been confirmed.

Alongside this new name and change in the city that Daredevil protects, he sports some new abilities in his battle with Angela during Marvel Rivals’ Season 4 reveal cinematic. Daredevil is shown to:

Empower his punches and Billy club with red lightning, which he's gained from bonding with a mythical creature.
Transform into a larger devil figure to escape from Angela’s trap. It's unclear if this ability will work like Hulk's transformation, or will be a special state like Wolverine can get into.
Command a dragon, though it likely won't be Shou-Lao, the beast Iron Fist fought to claim his power. Shou-Lao is confirmed to be sleeping and will be the focus of the seasonal story, so the creature empowering Matt is likely different.

Marvel Rivals’ Cosmetics Can Be a Saving Grace For Classic Daredevil Fans

Obviously, NetEase’s Daredevil is significantly different from the version fans know and love, whether it be his appearance, lore, or fighting style. Perhaps this change came as a result of NetEase feeling his base abilities like radar vision and martial arts weren’t enough to make him an interesting addition, or maybe this was the studio finding a middle ground between original Marvel Rivals heroes and classic comic book characters. Either way, fans not vibing with Matt Murdock’s new look can surely expect cosmetics based on his comic appearances, MCU suits, and so on. Coming to grips with his power and lore changes may be a bit more difficult, though it certainly opens up NetEase to some fresh storytelling opportunities for the Man Without Fear going forward.

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