Marvel Rivals: 10 Most Surprising Heroes They Could Add to the Game

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Only three months after its release on Dec. 6, 2025, Marvel Rivals includes almost 40 different Marvel characters on its roster. It features great options, from MCU hotshots like Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor to characters who are still waiting for their debut on the big screen like Jeff the Landshark, Psylocke, and Squirrel Girl. But the game developers are eager to bring even more into the mix.

In an interview with PC Gamer, Marvel Games executive producer Danny Koo revealed that including unknown characters or “curve balls” in the game was a conscious decision to “make the roster more interesting.” The company also revealed that they plan to include at least two new characters per season. With this in mind, fans now wonder which of the more obscure Marvel heroes will hit the mainstream thanks to Marvel Rivals even before debuting in the MCU.

10

Jack of Hearts Uses Gamma Radiation As a Main Weapon

Possible Role: Duelist

When he was only a kid, Jonathan Hart was accidentally doused in Zero Fluid — a substance so powerful that it was supposed to revolutionize the energy source industry. This granted Jonathan energy manipulation abilities, superhuman strength and stamina, and a powerful healing factor. Following the “Avengers Disassembled” event, in which Jack blew up killing some of his peers, he disappeared from Marvel. The comics just recently brought him back as She-Hulk’s romantic interest, but he’s still an unknown hero.

Jack’s energy-based abilities allow him to fly and shoot radioactive blasts. Besides, he’s capable of absorbing radiation and expelling it back at his enemies. With all these traits, he would make a fine duelist with a tank-like ability of damage absorption and a Hulk power-up team-up — he could infuse Bruce Banner with gamma radiation, potentially speeding up his transformation into the Green Giant.

9

Ruby Thursday Is Weird But Powerful

Possible Role: Strategist

Thursday Rubinstein, also known as Ruby Thursday, was once a brilliant scientist who decided to remove her head and replace it with shapeshifting orb. This makes her look quite strange, but it also grants her the ability to transform her head into anything she desires, from weapons to animals to random objects.

Besides Loki — who is morally ambiguous at best at this point — Marvel Rivals has no villains in the Strategist role. Ruby Thursday could be the first. Ruby is a very strange character, but she would surely shine in a PvP game. With her head’s versatile abilities — regeneration, energy blasts, and even tentacle-shaped limbs — she could heal her team while defending herself by constantly switching its shape.

8

Swarm Is an Intangible Living Hive

Possible role: Vanguard

Fritz von Meyer was a Nazi scientist with particular experience in apiculture working on killer bees when a mutated hive attacked him. For reasons unknown, he experienced a physical death, but his conscience was fractured and then lodged into every bee that attacked him. He became a living hive.

At the moment, Marvel Rivals only has bulky vanguard — characters like The Thing, Thor, and even Peni Parker’s armor robot. The Swarm could be a fine option for a slimmer but useful shield tank. Since he’s intangible but capable of shifting to any shape or size, his whole body could work as a shield for his teammates. This villain has been around for way too long, but his unique abilities haven’t really clicked with the fans. Marvel Rivals could be his chance to shine since he would make for a very peculiar playable character.

7

Frog-Man Would Make a Mean Dive Tank

Possible Role: Vanguard

When Eugene Patillo was younger, his father crafted a human-sized, mechanic, frog-suit and used it to become a supervillain. In his defense, Patillo Sr. was desperate for some money to provide for his family, but Eugene couldn’t handle his father becoming a criminal. He stole the suit and became a superhero, cleaning his father and the suit’s reputation with the general public.

Patillo’s suit is absolutely Vanguard material thanks to its electrically powered leaping coils. What’s more, since it’s padded on the inside, it prevents its wearer from taking damage when bouncing off objects. This makes Frog-Man a great option for a dive or disruptor tank that could get in the middle of the action, soak up as much damage as possible, and then bounce away before dying.

6

Lockjaw Could Boost the Team’s Mobility

Possible Role: Strategist

Lockjaw is the loyal pet of the Inhuman Royal Family. He’s a genetically altered dog with teleportation abilities intra and interdimensional thanks to the antenna in his head. Additionally, he has a powerful sense of smell — and of course, fangs and claws that could go through even the hardest metal in the world.

Lockjaw could make a fine Strategist for Marvel Rivals thanks to his huge body and his powerful bite. However, he would be way more useful as a support character. His antenna, full of psionic energy, could serve as an area debuffer while also helping his allies escape danger on his back — something like Jeff the Landshark combined with Loki. Just like Jeff, Lockjaw would surely become a fan favorite immediately thanks to his canine charisma.

5

Hit-Monkey Can Escape Easily Any Combat

Possible Role: Duelist

Hit-Monkey is a monkey who works as a hitman. Originally living with a clan of macaques in the mountains, his group took in a fugitive assassin. The monkey observed him train, learning everything about his ways. When a group of soldiers came into their lair to kill the assassin, Hit-Monkey witnessed the massacre of his people and vowed vengeance. The assassin’s spirit returned to guide him further in his mission.

Hit-Monkey is a wacky character, but it’s quite popular in the Marvel fandom. This character doesn’t have any superpowers, but he dons two pistols and possesses amazing martial arts skills. His marksmanship combined with his superior dexterity would make him a fast damage duelist who dives into the action and jumps back before getting hit too.

4

Glob Herman Can Light Himself on Fire

Possible Role: Vanguard

When Robert Herman was just a kid, his very particular mutation manifested forcing his mother to help him escape from his father: his skin became transparent and wax-like, showing his skeletal structure, making him very scary to the regular folk. Given his appearance, he found a safe haven at Professor X’s school so he became Glob Herman.

Herman’s skin is perfect for a brawl tanker character. Not only does he have superhuman strength and durability, but he can fling bits of his skin and regenerate them. Additionally, he can set himself on fire without taking damage, so a Human Torch team-up would come in handy for him.

3

Slapstick Could Be a Melee Warrior With Damage Absorption Skills

Possible Role: Duelist

Originally a regular man, Steve Harmon went through a portal by mistake while at a carnival. His molecules were stretched out across 3741 dimensions — the whole Multiverse — and his body turned into Electroplasm, a compound of living unstable molecules. Harmon basically turned into a Looney Tunes character. He became indestructible, malleable like rubber, and even got an amazing regenerative healing factor that saves him from the worst injuries, including decapitation.

Once turned into this strange buffoon, Harmon took the name Slapstick, and he truly committed to the bit, as he became as zany as it gets. This character wouldn’t work in live-action for obvious reasons, but he could debut in Marvel Rivals as a melee combatant with his big mallet. Since he’s neigh-invulnerable, he could get damage absorption abilities like a tank but still focus on doing damage.

2

M.O.D.O.K.’s Psionic Powers Could Make Him a Shield-Based Healer

Possible Role: Strategist

M.O.D.O.K. or Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing was a human IT guy at A.I.M. named George Tarleton when the Scientist Supreme turned him into a human computer. This process made his brain (and ego) bigger, but his body way too frail, dooming him to the Doomsday Chair.

Turning into M.O.D.O.K. changed his physical appearance, but it also gave him psionic powers like force blasts, force field creation, and even mind control. All these abilities could translate into Marvel Rivals as debuffs for enemies, shields for allies, and re-positioning blasts to push tanks from the battle area.

1

Madcap’s Abilities Could Buff & Debuff Skills All Around Him

Possible Role: Strategist

Before becoming one of the zaniest characters in Marvel, Madcap was a deeply religious man. But his faith was ultimately tested when his whole family and friends died in a car accident, leaving him as the sole survivor. Since the bus he was traveling in crashed against scientist terrorists from A.I.M., Madcap was infused by Chemical X07, which gave him a powerful healing factor as well as the ability to control others through suggestion powers.

Madcap could be a powerful area strategist on Marvel Rivals. He could share his healing factor with other teammates around him while also imposing certain disadvantages on enemies through his emotional control powers. This character has one of the strangest backstories in Marvel, but he’s far from making it into the mainstream in live-action since he may not be too palatable for non-comic readers. However, this game could push him a bit further into success.

“}]] Marvel Rivals’ roster is packed full of classic characters, but the developers have hinted add adding some more obscure characters to the game.  Read More