NetEase Games has committed to introducing at least one new Marvel Rivals hero every half-season, yet that hasn't deterred a creative player from envisioning a playable Doctor Octopus. Reddit user WickedCube recently captivated the r/MarvelRivals community with a 30-second video showcasing what appears to be early gameplay footage from NetEase's popular hero shooter. At first glance, the clip features a pre-Hulk Bruce Banner suspended in midair in a testing room, but it's actually a rough, Marvel Rivals-inspired depiction of the iconic Spider-Man villain, Doctor Octopus.

We need more vanguards, so i made one (Doctor Octopus)
byu/Wickedcube inmarvelrivals

The video, while stiff and somewhat humorous, unmistakably captures the essence of Doc Ock. With a bit of imagination, viewers can see a well-considered concept of what Otto Octavius might look and move like in Marvel Rivals. WickedCube's concept allows Doc Ock to "fly" by magnetizing to obstacles, a clever adaptation for a game featuring destructible environments. The character comes equipped with named abilities such as Havoc Claw for melee attacks and Wrecking Grip for ranged maneuvers. With over 16,000 upvotes, this fan-made creation has garnered significant attention and appreciation.

“Doc Ock has always been one of the coolest villains in Spider-Man, and his tentacles would be a challenge to implement,” WickedCube shared, highlighting his inspiration. “As far as I know, they haven't been fully implemented with playable 3D movement in a game before.”

Driven by his inability to play during a recent PSN outage, WickedCube, an indie game developer from India who previously worked with Space Engineers studio Keen Software House, decided to create his own version of Doctor Octopus. He resigned from his position in January 2024 to focus on personal projects and has since been exploring contract work and prototyping game mechanics.

“It all started when PSN was down and I couldn’t play Marvel Rivals,” WickedCube explained. “While browsing Twitter, I came across some really cool Doc Ock fan art. I thought, ‘Since I can't play right now, why not make it myself?’”

Doctor Octopus in the style of Marvel Rivals
.#MarvelRivals #MarvelRivalsfanart pic.twitter.com/d3XHXMZsCL

— CoryHarris.jpg (@LordDepis) January 26, 2025

The community's positive response has been overwhelming, with many fans urging NetEase to consider adding WickedCube's Doctor Octopus to the game. He finds the feedback "incredibly rewarding" and would be thrilled if NetEase adopted some of his ideas. While he has no plans to further refine the design, he aims to release a playable version soon and share his process through a YouTube tutorial series, with the code being open-sourced on GitHub and available on Itch.

NetEase is set to expand Marvel Rivals with two new official characters, the Human Torch and The Thing, this Friday, following the earlier release of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. This rapid addition of new characters is setting a brisk pace that outstrips many competitors, yet fans continue to envision even more heroes and villains from Marvel's vast universe joining the fray.

“The character roster at launch is large enough to keep the game enjoyable for a long time, and the rate at which they’ve promised to release new characters is mind-blowing,” he noted. “The designers clearly understand how to make a fun game, which, in my opinion, is the hardest thing to get right.”

Marvel Rivals is gearing up for its Season 1 mid-season update on February 21, which will introduce the new characters, along with balance changes and gameplay tweaks. In the meantime, you can stay informed about recent layoffs at NetEase's Seattle branch and the studio's stance on rumors about planted hero leaks.