Games

How Marvel Rivals Character Ethos Ensures an Enriched Skin Catalog

Published

3 days ago

November 21, 2024

In the days leading up to its release on December 6, Marvel Rivals has been reiterating who has made it onto its launch roster in a daily countdown. Each day has come with a certain character represented, eventually culminating in the 33 characters who will be available at the beginning of Season 0, and with each character Marvel Rivals has also revealed a skin of theirs.

Rocket Raccoon, Thor, Groot, Star-Lord, Mantis, Adam Warlock, Loki, and Namor have all had
MCU-inspired skins revealed
, for example, while characters such as Jeff the Land Shark, Black Panther, Punisher, and Winter Soldier have had comic book-inspired skins revealed.

It’s not so much of a luxury nowadays as it was, but it continues to be remarkably impressive when a game’s art style is representative of wild distinctions between character models. Skins were never Marvel’s Avengers’ biggest issue, and yet it too drew criticism for how little it was willing to iterate on its existing character models to better facilitate an Avenger’s MCU-inspired skins, which the live-service game essentially banked on. Conversely, Marvel Rivals is already devoted to the notion of molding its character models in service of deeply unique and faithful skins, including having full facial renders for characters who could’ve gotten away with never unmasking, and that’s a colossal boon that will give Marvel Rivals a tremendous amount of post-launch longevity.

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Marvel Rivals’ Skins Exude Ingenuity, Craft, and Attentiveness

To look at a single character as an example of many, Spider-Man has enough costumed looks in comic book, movie, TV, and video game source material to fill a whole game without ever needing him to unmask. Indeed, Marvel Rivals’ Bag-Man skin for Spider-Man isn’t a one-to-one adaptation of the original Bombastic Bag-Man look as it lacks the spare Fantastic Four bodysuit and ‘Kick Me!’ sign taped to his back, but it’s wonderful to see a modern take on it in Marvel Rivals’ alluring art style.

Moreover, while the brown paper bag could’ve been kept on his head for the entirety of the time players have this skin equipped, NetEase evidently went to the extent of designing and rendering Peter Parker when he’s unmasked, as seen in Marvel Rivals’ recent Dev Vision roadmap diary video. Spider-Man is only one of many masked characters to have an unmasked face rendered, though, and this is profoundly exciting because it means there is technically no restriction or limitation inhibiting Marvel Rivals when it comes to how imaginative skins may be.

A Peter Parker skin in street clothing is now on the table, for instance, as it theoretically is for any character who normally dons an iconic costume. Furthermore, Marvel Rivals’ Winter Soldier, having longer hair tied back in a bun for his newly revealed Revolution skin, demonstrates that any character model’s details may be subject to change depending on the look of a respective skin. Thus, one player’s Bucky Barnes might look discernibly different from another’s depending on the skins they have equipped.

Brilliant Skin Designs Put Marvel Rivals’ Money Where Its Art Style is

Skins as novel as Captain America’s Imperial Protocol or Captain Gladiator are then the icing on the cake because they deliver on creativity in exciting ways. The Imperial Protocol’s eagle aesthetic is inspired as it gives Steve Rogers an appearance that couldn’t be more distinguished from his default red, white, and blue skin, and the fact that his circular shield is substituted for an angular kite shield is evidence that any character’s iconic gear can feature new looks as well.

Captain America’s Captain Gladiator skin, inspired by the Planet Hulk comic book run, goes as far as to seemingly feature an axe that he wields, and if it’s implemented in his melee combat it’d be wholly extraordinary as a weapon added for a single skin whether it affects gameplay or not. As such, even if MCU-inspired skins populate Marvel Rivals at an alarming rate, there is sure to be an abundance of emergent originality and thoughtful adaptations peppered throughout the roster.