NetEase Video games has promised to launch at the very least one new Marvel Rivals hero each half-season, however that didn’t cease one artistic participant from bringing his concept for a playable Doctor Octopus to life.
Reddit person WickedCube shocked r/MarvelRivals followers earlier this week with a 30-second video showing what looks like rough gameplay from NetEase’s smash-hit hero shooter. At a look, the footage appears to give attention to a pre-Hulk Bruce Banner suspended in midair in what seems to be a testing room – nevertheless it’s greater than that. Marvel followers will acknowledge this eight-armed model of the gamma-infused physician as an unpolished, Marvel Rivals-inspired tackle traditional Spider-Man villain Doctor Octopus.
It’s stiff and a contact goofy, however the likeness is unmistakable. Squint and you’ll see a well-thought-out idea of what Doc Ock might probably look and transfer like ought to NetEase ever resolve to ship Otto Octavius crawling into Marvel Rivals. Together with his arms in a position to magnetize the participant up and round obstacles, WickedCube’s concept come-to-life basically permits the character to fly as long as he’s shut sufficient to a steady construction – an vital notice in a sport with destructible environments. This tough Doc Ock idea even comes with named skills, together with Havoc Claw for the usual melee assault and a ranged transfer referred to as Wrecking Grip. At 16,000 upvotes on the time of publication, it’s spectacular, playable, and made fully by one particular person.
“Doc Ock has all the time been one of many coolest villains in Spider-Man, and his tentacles could be a problem to implement,” WickedCube inform us, describing the place his inspiration stemmed from. “So far as I do know, they have not been totally carried out with playable 3D motion in a sport earlier than.”
The India-based indie sport developer beforehand labored with House Engineers studio Eager Software program Home earlier than resigning to focus on his own project in January 2024. He is been in search of contract positions and prototyping mechanics since then, so character work often isn’t a precedence. Creating a controllable model of Doctor Octopus in Unity required clearing a few hurdles, nevertheless it’s this actual problem that helped WickedCube pursue the thought. The remainder of the push got here from an unlikely supply: the current PSN outage.
“It all began when PSN was down and I couldn’t play Marvel Rivals,” WickedCube explains. “Whereas searching Twitter, I got here throughout some really cool Doc Ock fan art. I believed, ‘Since I am unable to play proper now, why not make it myself?’”
Doctor Octopus within the model of Marvel Rivals
.#MarvelRivals #MarvelRivalsfanart pic.twitter.com/d3XHXMZsCL— CoryHarris.jpg (@LordDepis) January 26, 2025
The consequence has seen hundreds of gamers appreciating his concepts for Doc Ock, with some calling for NetEase to carry him onto the workforce. WickedCube calls the reception “extremely rewarding,” including that he’d be very happy to see the Marvel Rivals studio elevate a few of his concepts ought to Doc Ock formally make his manner into the sport. Though he has no plans to shine the design additional, the aim is to launch a playable model of the character within the close to future.
“After seeing the response on Reddit, I wish to share this and future ideas as a YouTube tutorial sequence,” WickedCube added. “I additionally plan to open-source the code on GitHub and make the playable variations accessible on Itch.”
NetEase will cost ahead with its Marvel Rivals post-launch plans with two new official characters this Friday: the Human Torch and The Factor. Each heroes observe their Implausible 4 teammates, Mister Implausible and the Invisible Lady, who launched early final month. It’s a shockingly sturdy begin that outpaces rivals in its discipline, however comedian guide followers can’t assist however look to Marvel’s catalog of heroes and villains as a universe with limitless potential.
WickedCube’s publish says his viral venture was born out of the group’s need to see extra Vanguard, or tank-like characters, added to its roster. Not even the strongest rumor has urged we’ll see Otto present up in-game any time quickly, however the Doc Ock designer says he’s already cooking up extra concepts for different potential heroes. Two names on his thoughts are X-Males mainstays Nightcrawler and Professor Xavier.
“The character roster at launch is giant sufficient to maintain the sport satisfying for a very long time, and the speed at which they’ve promised to launch new characters is mind-blowing,” he added. “The designers clearly perceive the best way to make a enjoyable sport, which, for my part, is the toughest factor to get proper.”
Marvel Rivals is primed to ship its Season 1 mid-season replace tomorrow, February 21. Along with these aforementioned character releases, the content material replace will add stability modifications, gameplay tweaks, and extra. Whereas we watch for launch, you’ll be able to learn up on layoffs that just lately impacted the U.S. workforce at NetEase’s Seattle department. You too can study why the studio is not entertaining the rumors surrounding planted hero leaks.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He is greatest identified for his work at websites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. You’ll want to give him a observe on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).