"Doctor Octopus Joins Marvel Rivals: Fan-Made Concept Goes Viral"

NetEase Games has committed to introducing at least one new Marvel Rivals hero every half-season, yet that hasn't deterred one imaginative player from crafting his own vision of a playable Doctor Octopus.

Reddit user WickedCube recently captivated the r/MarvelRivals community with a 30-second video showcasing what appears to be rudimentary gameplay footage from NetEase's popular hero shooter. At first glance, the video features a pre-Hulk Bruce Banner suspended in midair within a testing room, but there's more to it. Marvel enthusiasts will recognize the eight-armed figure as a rough, Marvel Rivals-inspired rendition of the classic Spider-Man villain, Doctor Octopus.

We need more vanguards, so i made one (Doctor Octopus)
byu/Wickedcube inmarvelrivals

The animation may be stiff and slightly comical, yet the resemblance is undeniable. With a bit of imagination, you can envision what Doc Ock might look and move like if NetEase were to incorporate Otto Octavius into Marvel Rivals. WickedCube's concept enables the character to "fly" by magnetizing to nearby structures, a crucial feature in a game with destructible environments. This early version of Doc Ock even boasts named abilities such as Havoc Claw for melee attacks and Wrecking Grip for ranged attacks. With 16,000 upvotes at the time of publication, this impressive, playable prototype was crafted entirely by one individual.

“Doc Ock has always been one of the coolest villains in Spider-Man, and his tentacles would be a challenge to implement,” WickedCube shared, revealing the source of his inspiration. “As far as I know, they haven't been fully implemented with playable 3D movement in a game before.”

Motivated by the inability to play due to a PSN outage, WickedCube decided to take matters into his own hands. “It all started when PSN was down and I couldn’t play Marvel Rivals,” he explained. “While browsing Twitter, I came across some really cool Doc Ock fan art. I thought, ‘Since I can't play right now, why not make it myself?’”

Doctor Octopus in the style of Marvel Rivals
.#MarvelRivals #MarvelRivalsfanart pic.twitter.com/d3XHXMZsCL

— CoryHarris.jpg (@LordDepis) January 26, 2025

Thousands of players have expressed admiration for WickedCube's Doc Ock concept, with some urging NetEase to consider adding him to the game. WickedCube finds the community's reaction "incredibly rewarding" and would welcome NetEase adopting his ideas should Doc Ock become an official addition. While he has no immediate plans to refine the design further, he aims to release a playable version soon.

“Following the Reddit response, I want to share this and future concepts as a YouTube tutorial series,” WickedCube added. “I also plan to open-source the code on GitHub and make the playable versions available on Itch.”

NetEase is set to expand Marvel Rivals with the introduction of two new characters this Friday: the Human Torch and The Thing, following their Fantastic Four teammates, Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, who debuted last month. This robust launch strategy positions Marvel Rivals ahead of its competitors, yet fans continue to explore the vast potential within Marvel's universe of heroes and villains.

WickedCube's project stemmed from the community's desire for more Vanguard, or tank-like characters. While there's no solid indication that Otto will appear in the game soon, WickedCube is already brainstorming other potential heroes, including Nightcrawler and Professor Xavier from the X-Men.

“The character roster at launch is substantial enough to keep the game engaging for a long time, and the promised rate of new character releases is astounding,” he remarked. “The designers clearly understand how to make a fun game, which, in my opinion, is the hardest thing to get right.”

Marvel Rivals is gearing up for its Season 1 mid-season update on February 21, which will introduce the new characters, along with balance changes and gameplay tweaks. As we await the update, you can learn more about recent layoffs affecting NetEase's U.S. team in Seattle and why the studio isn't addressing rumors about planted hero leaks.