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 one creative player from bringing their vision of a playable Doctor Octopus to life. Reddit user WickedCube recently stunned the r/MarvelRivals community with a 30-second gameplay video showcasing a remarkably well-realized, albeit rough, version of the eight-armed villain within the game's engine. The footage, seemingly from a testing environment featuring a suspended pre-Hulk Bruce Banner, depicts a surprisingly fluid and believable Doctor Octopus.

While somewhat stiff and quirky, the character model is instantly recognizable. WickedCube's concept cleverly utilizes Doc Ock's tentacles for magnetized movement, allowing him to essentially "fly" near stable structures—a unique mechanic within the game's destructible environments. The prototype even includes named abilities: Havoc Claw (melee) and Wrecking Grip (ranged). With over 16,000 upvotes at the time of writing, this single-person project is both impressive and highly playable.

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 stemmed from a period of downtime during a PSN outage. WickedCube, an indie developer with prior experience at Keen Software House, was inspired by fan art they saw online, leading to the creation of this playable Doc Ock in Unity.

The overwhelmingly positive response has been incredibly rewarding for WickedCube, who hopes NetEase might incorporate some of their ideas should Doc Ock officially join the game. While not planning to further polish the current design, they intend to release a playable version and share the development process through a YouTube tutorial series and open-source the code on GitHub and Itch.io.

This Friday, NetEase will release two official new characters: Human Torch and The Thing, following the recent additions of Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman. This rapid release schedule surpasses competitors, yet the vast potential of Marvel's universe continues to inspire fan creations like WickedCube's. Their post highlights the community's desire for more Vanguard-type characters, and they're already developing concepts for Nightcrawler and Professor Xavier. WickedCube praises the game's design, 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 21st, including the new characters, balance adjustments, and gameplay tweaks. Recent layoffs at NetEase's Seattle branch and the studio's stance on hero leak rumors are also noteworthy developments.