Thesecond season ofMarvel Rivalsmay run at the same time asDaredevil: Born Again. The show is set to premiere on March 4 and airs for nine episodes. If Disney decides to use the typical one-episode-a-week format, it will sync up with NetEase’s schedule for season two. This is the perfect time to promote Daredevil with playable heroes, skins, events, or at least references to the character and his rogues gallery.
Marvel Rivalshaving a tie-in is one of thebest means of cross promotingboth properties. However, it is possible that NetEase did not fully prepare or had other plans. It has already been shown that Marvel has allowed the developers quite a bit of freedom, including using obscure characters like Jeff the Land Shark. But ignoring Daredevil altogether would be a wasted opportunity to showcase one of Marvel’s most prominent street-level heroes.
Daredevil Characters May Become Playable In Season 2 Or 3
Characters Of Every Role Are Possible
Marvel Rivalsalready has references to Daredevil’s civilian identity of Matt Murdock. While exploring thenew map of Midtown inMarvel Rivals,you can find a billboard for Nelson & Murdock Attorneys At Law. Since the game has multiple dimensions, Daredevil could originate from this world or any of the other realities. There is also an ad for Luke Cage’s Heroes For Hire and a building owned by Wilson Fisk.
IfMarvel Rivalswants to make a more direct connection toDaredevil: Born Again, there are several characters to make playable. The most obvious is Daredevil, who would likely bea fast melee skirmisher similarto Spider-Man. His billy clubs are his most iconic weapon, often with considerable range. It would be interesting if Daredevil’s heightened senses gave him someresistances to negative status effects.
The next choice would be Bullseye, consideredone of the best snipers in all of Marvel Comics. He can take any household item and turn it into a deadly projectile. When the game first launched, people questioned why Bullseye wasn’t among the snipers instead of Black Widow orHela inMarvel Rivals. It is possible that NetEase really was saving him closer to the premiere ofDaredevil: Born Again.
White Tiger could be an interesting Duelist.Daredevil: Born Againfeatures the original White Tiger, Hector Ayala. He utilizes three tiger amulets from K’un-L’un, the same realm that Iron Fist protects. While wearing all three, White Tiger has incredible martial arts skills and superhuman abilities. For theMarvel Rivalsversion, some liberties can be taken, and he becomes more powerful as each of the amulets gains individual energy.
There’s An Easy Fix For One Of Marvel Rivals' Most Annoying Features
Although loved at first, Galacta is beginning to annoy Marvel Rivals players, but there’s an easy fix that NetEase can use to alleviate the issue.
Muse would be a very unorthodox Strategist inMarvel Rivals. He can create a sensory deprivation vortex,making it nearly impossible to see or hear him. In the comics, his powers make gruesome art out of human corpses or propagate dangerous villains. It is possible that Muse can draw teammates or enemies, providing healing or weakness from a safe vantage point.
Despite mostly barking out orders,Kingpin could make for a strong Vanguard. He is skilled at sumo wrestling and has enough strength to break concrete; he has even reached melee stalemates with Captain America. It would be interesting if he specialized in subduing single enemies,much like Wolverine does inMarvel Rivals. The most amusing would be if Kingpin’s ultimate ability inMarvel Rivalsstill called in goons to fight or defend him.
Daredevil Skins, Events, And References Are All Likely
A Seasonal Mission Could Be Daredevil-Related
Even if Daredevil isn’t ready to go, NetEase should still cross-promote in other ways. The most obvious would be with skins for existing characters like the Punisher and Iron Fist. The former is easy enough, as Jon Bernthal has had unique outfits and hairstyles in his portrayals of Frank Castle. Iron Fist is a bit tougher for several reasons, mainly becauseMarvel Rivalsfeatures Lin Lie instead of Danny Rand. Additionally, there is no official news that Finn Jones will reappear in any future MCU media.
Skins for Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, and Hawkeye are plausible but less likely. Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk made appearances along with those MCU characters, but they were only cameos. Any skins would probably be branded withSpider-Man: No Way HomeandHawkeye, respectively. But the timing could still sync up withMarvel Rivals’ second or third season.
The next best option would be to have a seasonal event featuring Daredevil or Kingpin, similar to the currentMidnight Features investigations. They could issue orders to help clean up Hell’s Kitchen or even some alternate-dimensional version. This would be similar to characters like Dracula, Shuri, and even Dr. Doom, who appear in lore and art but are not playable inMarvel Rivals.
Marvel RivalsandDaredevil: Born Againare set to be a perfect match. It would be shocking if there were no crossover, even if it was late or minor. At minimum, heavily using the term “Born Again” would be very entertaining for Adam Warlock and Winter Soldier players, who have come to shout their phrases over voice chat or spamming them as comments. When Daredevil finally becomes playable, he will hopefully make a quip to both characters before or during a match.
