Marvel Rivals’ Season 1 Heroes Are an Unexpected But Welcome Surprise

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 3, 2025 5 Views 8 Min Read
Marvel Rivals' Season 1 Heroes Are an Unexpected But Welcome Surprise

Marvel Rivals has confirmed the start date for Season 1 after the game entered Season 0 last month. In addition to a Season 1 start date of January 9, Marvel Rivals also confirmed that The Fantastic Four will be added as playable heroes when the new season drops. While the addition of these characters is exciting to be sure, the timing of their addition to Marvel Rivals‘ roster seems to be jumping the gun a bit.

The Fantastic Four coming to Marvel Rivals has been the game’s worst-kept secret since the heroes were leaked via datamine even before the game’s official launch. Even with the “when” left up in the air, these leaks confirmed that Marvel’s First Family would be heading to Marvel Rivals eventually. However, their addition coming so soon after release is a bit of a curveball when there seemed to be a much more perfect window for their addition coming later in 2025.

Marvel Rivals will be getting a Season 1 trailer on January 6 to give players their first official in-game looks at Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and The Thing.

Winter Soldier, Iron Man, Capt American, and Black Widow from Marvel Rivals

Related


Marvel Rivals’ Latest Leaked Character is a Logical Progression

Leaks regarding Marvel Rivals’ upcoming heroes have been rampant since the first Alpha playtest, and the latest potential reveal makes a lot of sense.

Marvel Rivals Adding The Fantastic Four With Season 1 is Oddly Timed

Adding the Heroes to Coincide with the MCU Movie Seemed More Likely

As inevitable as The Fantastic Four seemed as Marvel Rivals heroes, choosing them to headline Season 1 so early in 2025 seems like NetEase could be putting the cart before the horse. 2025 is already set to be a big year for Fantastic Four fans with the MCU’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps set to release in theaters in July. With this release date already teed up for Marvel Rivals to knock out of the park with a well-timed collaboration, releasing the Fantastic Four as playable characters so far in advance is somewhat unexpected.

Part of the reason for this disconnect between The Fantastic Four’s Marvel Rivals debut and the upcoming MCU film could be to give players a chance to get to know the characters more ahead of the film’s release. The Fantastic Four are certainly not as obscure of Marvel characters as Jeff the Land Shark and Luna Snow, who have already grown in popularity thanks to Marvel Rivals. However, the heroes have been out of the mainstream limelight for some time, which could warrant ample time for fans to familiarize themselves with the heroes via Marvel Rivals in anticipation of The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ release.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is slated to release on July 25, 2025.

The Fantastic Four’s Addition Sets a Hopeful Precedent for Future Marvel Rivals Seasons

Regardless of the timing of The Fantastic Four in Marvel Rivals, the addition of four new characters at the start of Season 1 is exciting in and of itself. Although Marvel Rivals launched with 33 playable characters, it remained unclear how many characters players could expect to see added each season. Other hero shooters like Overwatch 2 have typically stuck with one new hero per season, but Marvel Rivals adding four in a single season bodes well for future seasonal additions.

The Fantastic Four being added so much earlier than was anticipated also sets a precedent for characters to be added long before they receive a tie-in with other Marvel media like the MCU films. For example, players may see Blade join Marvel Rivals much earlier than his MCU appearance or the upcoming Arkane-developed game. With Marvel Rivals having such a deep catalog of characters to pull from, it’s not that surprising to see four new heroes join in a single season, but the distance they’re releasing from the highly-anticipated MCU film makes them a more than welcome surprise to kick off Season 1.

Source link