A Marvel Rivals Player Created a Playable Doctor Octopus Concept and Fans Love It

NetEase Games' commitment to releasing a new Marvel Rivals hero every half-season hasn't stopped a talented player from creating their own playable Doctor Octopus. Reddit user WickedCube recently unveiled a 30-second gameplay video showcasing a surprisingly polished, fan-made version of the eight-armed villain within the Marvel Rivals engine. The footage, seemingly from a testing environment featuring a pre-Hulk Bruce Banner, depicts a surprisingly well-realized Doc Ock.

The video, while rough around the edges, clearly demonstrates a thoughtful interpretation of how Doc Ock could function in the game. His tentacles allow for magnetized movement around obstacles, essentially giving him a form of flight near structures—a clever adaptation for a game with destructible environments. The concept even includes named abilities: Havoc Claw for melee attacks and Wrecking Grip for ranged combat. The post, boasting over 16,000 upvotes, is a testament to the impressive work of a single individual.

WickedCube explained their inspiration, stating, "Doc Ock has always been one of the coolest Spider-Man villains, 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 project, born from a recent PSN outage and inspired by online fan art, highlights the developer's skill and passion. WickedCube, an indie game developer with experience at Keen Software House, is currently seeking contract work and prototyping mechanics. The challenge of creating a controllable Doc Ock in Unity provided the perfect outlet for their skills.

The overwhelmingly positive response has been incredibly rewarding for WickedCube, who hopes NetEase might consider incorporating some of their ideas should Doc Ock ever officially join the game. While there are no current plans to further polish the design, a playable version is planned for release in the near future, accompanied by a YouTube tutorial series and open-source code on GitHub and Itch.io.

This Friday, NetEase will release two official characters, Human Torch and The Thing, continuing the strong post-launch momentum following the release of Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman. This rapid release schedule surpasses competitors, but the vast potential of Marvel's universe continues to inspire fan creations like WickedCube's Doc Ock.

WickedCube's project highlights the community's desire for more Vanguard-type characters. While there's no official word on Doc Ock's inclusion, WickedCube is already developing concepts for other potential heroes, including Nightcrawler and Professor Xavier. They praised the game's design, noting the impressive launch roster and the rapid release of new characters, stating, "The designers clearly understand how to make a fun game, which, in my opinion, is the hardest thing to get right."

Marvel Rivals' Season 1 mid-season update arrives tomorrow, February 21, including the new characters, balance changes, and gameplay tweaks. This update comes amidst recent layoffs at NetEase's Seattle branch and ongoing speculation regarding hero leaks, which the studio has addressed.