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 concept for a playable Doctor Octopus.

Reddit user WickedCube recently captivated the r/MarvelRivals community with a 30-second video showcasing what appears to be early gameplay footage from NetEase's popular hero shooter. At first glance, the clip features a pre-Hulk Bruce Banner suspended in midair within a testing room. However, keen Marvel enthusiasts will quickly identify this eight-armed figure as an early, Marvel Rivals-inspired rendition of the iconic Spider-Man villain, Doctor Octopus.

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

The video, though somewhat stiff and playful, unmistakably captures the essence of Doctor Octopus. With a bit of imagination, viewers can envision how Doc Ock might navigate and interact within the game. WickedCube's concept allows the character to "fly" by magnetizing to nearby structures, a crucial feature in a game with destructible environments. The concept even includes specific abilities like Havoc Claw for melee attacks and Wrecking Grip for ranged combat. With over 16,000 upvotes at the time of publication, this fan-made creation has garnered significant attention and praise.

WickedCube shared his inspiration, stating, "Doc Ock has always been one of the coolest villains in Spider-Man, and his tentacles would be a challenge to implement. As far as I know, they haven't been fully implemented with playable 3D movement in a game before." The idea to create this character stemmed from his inability to play Marvel Rivals during a recent PSN outage. "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?’"

WickedCube, an indie game developer from India, previously worked with Space Engineers studio Keen Software House before resigning in January 2024 to focus on his own projects. Despite primarily seeking contract work and prototyping mechanics, he took on the challenge of creating a controllable version of Doctor Octopus in Unity.

The community's enthusiastic response has been "incredibly rewarding" for WickedCube, who expressed his willingness to see NetEase adopt some of his ideas if Doc Ock were to be officially added to the game. Although he has no plans to further refine the design, he aims to release a playable version soon and share his process through a YouTube tutorial series. Additionally, he plans to open-source the code on GitHub and make the playable versions available on Itch.

NetEase is set to expand Marvel Rivals with two new characters this Friday: the Human Torch and The Thing, following the earlier release of their Fantastic Four teammates, Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. This rapid introduction of new characters showcases a strong start that surpasses many competitors in the genre, tapping into the vast potential of Marvel's universe.

WickedCube's project was inspired by the community's call for more Vanguard or tank-like characters. While there's no indication that Doctor Octopus will soon join the game officially, WickedCube is already brainstorming other potential heroes, including Nightcrawler and Professor Xavier.

"The character roster at launch is large enough to keep the game enjoyable for a long time, and the rate at which they’ve promised to release new characters is mind-blowing," he added. "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, balance changes, and gameplay tweaks. In the meantime, you can stay informed about recent layoffs at NetEase's Seattle branch and the studio's stance on rumors about planted hero leaks.