Marvel Rivalscrosses over characters from multiple universes to create an exciting match-up. This is because if the heroes and villains were comic-accurate their powers would be on drastically different levels. NetEase would be in a difficult spot if half the Duelist characters couldn’t put a dent in most of the Vanguards, or if personal weaknesses could be triggered. Thankfully, Marvel has allowed for creative freedom and doesn’t restrict the game to just Earth-616 and other character origin worlds.
It is actually rather fun how inaccurateMarvel Rivalsis compared to the main Marvel Comics line-up. You are likely to wind up withsome amazing team compositionsthat would never interact in the main universe. When would there likely be a story where Venom, Adam Warlock, Magneto, and Jeff the Land Shark all work together? And some of the match-ups are even wilder. Marvel would need a huge excuse for Captain America to start beating up a rising pop star.
Characters That Are Much Weaker In The Comics
Some Heroes Couldn’t Even Compete
Some Marvel characters have noticeable weaknesses or flaws. The Venom symbiote is well known for having vulnerability to both fire and sonic frequencies. It would have been even more amusing as Human Torch is planned to be the next character introduced in the first season ofMarvel Rivals. However, Insomniac had alreadyremoved the fire weaknessinMarvel’s Spider-Man 2, giving precedent to cull it in further games.
Many characters also just don’t hit very hard on Earth-616. Both Hawkeye and the Punisher are fine marksmen, but their arrows and bullets wouldn’t even scratch half of theMarvel Rivalsroster. Additionally, Magick’s soulsword is meant to primarily disrupt magical powers and creatures, though it still does harm humans and mutants to a lesser degree.
Marvel Rivals Characters You Should Be Using To Steal Objectives
Winning objectives is more important than kills in Marvel Rivals. Several abilities will let you get right to the goal without even fighting.
As far as Strategists,Jeff the Land Shark’s entire kit is made upjust forMarvel Rivals. He doesn’t have a healing stream or is known for swallowing up whole teams, though his bite is as strong as a normal shark. On the other end, Dagger’s lightforce healing is mainly cleansing to remove toxins and disease. This makes it odd that it doesn’t directly treatnegative status effects. Only in the last decade or so did she improve her powers to use it to treat wounds.
Comic Accurate Characters That Are Too Powerful For Marvel Rivals
It Would Be Unfair To Fight Against Them
On the other end of the spectrum, several Earth-616 characters would be absolutely broken inMarvel Rivals. Both Wolverine and Iron Man have way too little health to represent their durability. For Wolverine,his health regeneration should be rampantto the point he respawns directly where he died. In Iron Man’s case, the 60 and 70 armor model lines from the 2000s include force fields, immunity to psychic powers, invisibility, and enough durability to withstand punches from Captain Marvel.
Earth-616 Spider-Man would be the most ridiculous Duelist. Having both Spider-Sense and Superhuman Reflexes wouldallow him to dodge nearly any attack. However, one of the most iconic moments of theCivil Warcomic storyline was how Captain America could still out maneuver Spider-Man despite the major physical advantages.
As far as lax offensive power inMarvel Rivals, when Mantis debuted in 1973, her knowledge of martial arts and pressure points allowed her to defeat Thor. She was greatly toned down in 2014, but technically still has the fighting prowessshown in her Natural Anger ability. As far as true powerhouses,the Hulk has unlimited potential strengthlinked to his level of anger. It is often Bruce Banner who gets in the way of the Hulk, who subconsciously restrains the latter so that they don’t harm bystanders.
Finally, there are, of course, the omega-level mutants featured inMarvel Rivals. Storm has complete weather control and could instantly flood or freeze any map. Magneto can manipulate matter and control photons, with some speculating he may be the most powerful person native to Earth-616. The Scarlet Witch keeps being retconned to either a mutant or genetically enhanced human, but still she and Charles Xavier were able to create an entire reality in theHouse of Mcrossover.
