After Marvel Rivals’ Season 4’s Big Reveal, I Think We Can…

Marvel Rivals has pulled back the curtain on its next season, with its heroes and theme officially revealed. Players will be doing battle in Marvel’s Eighth City, a prison-like offshoot of the Seven Cities of Heaven, which K’un-Lun is a part of. Dubbed “Heart of the Dragon,” the new season will be bringing fresh team-ups alongside two additional heroes. The Vanguard Angela, a former Spawn character who joined the Marvel universe just over a decade ago, and Dizang, traditionally known as Daredevil. The latter of these two characters is so different that he may shed light on a recent controversy that has been all the rage in the Marvel Rivals community over the last month: original heroes.

Marvel Rivals has not confirmed whether Dizang will be a Vanguard, Duelist, or Strategist, though Duelist does seem the most likely.

daredevil-transforms-marvel-rivals — Marvel rivals daredevil transformation

Recently, Marvel Rivals developer NetEase revealed that it had the green light from Marvel to create its own original characters. Likely a response to Rivals’ hugely successful launch and inspired art style, as well as the potential for fresh comic book additions (Luna Snow came to the comics after her debut in Marvel Future Fight, after all), Marvel taking this stance isn't all that surprising. However, fans were immediately concerned by this decision. This too makes sense, as there are so many major heroes and villains still missing from the game as well as niche Marvel characters to bring in, so it’s odd to even consider fully original characters. As such, there was a lot of outrage about NetEase saying “stay tuned” and implying that original heroes were around the corner, but if Dizang is what I think he is, then everyone may have been overreacting the entire time.

Admittedly, I was willing to play devil’s advocate for Marvel Rivals’ original heroes even if it wasn’t my cup of tea, as past success with Luna and NetEase turning Jeff the Land Shark from a fairly niche Gwenpool sidekick into a future MCU character gave me confidence the studio would produce something interesting. I still have a long list of classic Marvel figures I’d rather see before original characters, and hoped that NetEase wouldn’t go overboard, but I was at least open to the idea. However, I’m starting to think that such a scenario isn’t even going to play out, at least not in the way we all thought, so disappointed fans may be safe to set down their pitchforks.

Marvel Rivals’ Daredevil May Be the Standard for NetEase’s 'Original Characters'

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

While fans may be calling Marvel Rivals’ Season 4 characters Daredevil and Angela, NetEase has used a different name for the former in its trailer description and official lore: Dizang. Though players will still control a character named Matt Murdock in a red devil suit come the midseason update for Season 4, virtually everything else about him has changed. Instead of patrolling Hell’s Kitchen, he’s the defender of the Eight City, a sort of prison for demons and criminals, which is where Hela has found herself following her stint as the Queen in Black. This will see him doing battle with Angela, as Hela’s sister wants to bring her back to Asgard. During their clash, Matt is shown wielding superpowers granted to him by a dragon and seemingly transforming himself into a demon, which is a massive change from what fans are used to. Add on his bulky samurai-like suit, and he’s essentially a new character — something worth diving into more deeply.

While this is purely speculation, I wouldn’t be shocked if this is what NetEase meant by original characters. Perhaps the developer isn’t actually going to be pulling new characters out of thin air, but transforming existing ones to deliver fresh takes. Just like Matt Murdock has been given a new name, different powers, and a fresh city to protect, perhaps NetEase is planning to alter other fixtures of the Marvel universe. Possibilities include, but are certainly not limited to:

Powerless characters like Maria Hill could go from a basic SHIELD agent to a superpowered member of the roster, with a fresh origin story and a new hero name to match.
Spider-Gwen could be given a unique ability or two like Miles Morales has, making her a more viable roster addition.
Cyclops could be given some additional powers alongside his optic blasts to grant him a deeper kit. NetEase could also play with the "Cyclops did nothing wrong" arc, perhaps pitting him against Charles Xavier in an X-Men Civil War season.
Cable could trade in his guns and lean more into tech-based abilities to differentiate himself from Punisher, with NetEase taking his techno-organic virus further than ever.
Ms. Marvel can adopt her MCU power set, or another original set of abilities, so that she doesn’t overlap with Mr. Fantastic (and Ant-Man if he’s eventually added).

Marvel Rivals Adding More 'New' Heroes Like Dizang Could Be a Win-Win Scenario

If Dizang does turn out to be what NetEase was referring to when it comes to original heroes, I’m even more accepting of the idea, and I’d imagine that a lot of other Marvel fans would be as well. Putting entirely new spins on characters like Matt Murdock is a bold decision, and a traditional approach should still be taken to most characters, but shaking things up here and there can work well. NetEase has clearly put a lot of effort into making its Daredevil unique, while still maintaining the parts of his character that are essential, and it’s certainly possible to apply this method to other heroes and villains. This way, NetEase gets to keep its creative juices flow by designing “new” characters, while hardcore fans are still seeing the ones they know and love adapted, just in a more experimental way. While NetEase could certainly still prove me wrong and release a new hero or villain with no ties to the existing Marvel universe, Dizang has me a lot more optimistic about the concept of “original heroes.”

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