New Marvel Fighting Game isn't even out yet, but it's already putting rivals to shame

As has usually been the case with PlayStation State of Plays of late, fighting game fans got another look Marvel Token: Fighting Soulswith another batch of characters being officially confirmed. This time, Doctor Doom's allies in the Token universe was revealed, with Magneto, the Green Goblin, and Carnage working alongside the wizard/dictator/supervillain. While this moment brought plenty of jokes about Doom clearly hating Spider-Man since half of the Knights of Doom are Spidey villains, it also led to a number of sad posts and comments referencing Marvel Rivals' lack of villains.

Since Magneto has been more of an anti-hero for a long time now, 3 of the 4 characters in Knights of Doom can be considered true villains. And unfortunately it is already more than Rivals offers. Marvel Rivalseven after a year and a half of availability, only has two real villains on its playable roster: Hela and Ultron. The rest, like the aforementioned master of magnetism, the trickster god Loki, and the deadly protector, Venom, cross the line a lot. While it's true that the do-gooders in the Marvel universe have wildly different personalities — Magik is nothing like Squirrel Girl who's nothing like Moon Knight — there's a tinge of desire to see more baddies join the mix. Hopefully, Tokon's use of villains that are met with so much praise will help NetEase realize how much fans want to see similar additions to their game.

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Marvel Rivals has no shortage of great villains to introduce

Not only is the Marvel Universe full of popular heroes to add – Captain Marvel, Ghost Rider and Nightcrawler haven't even been shown yet – but there are literally dozens of amazing possibilities available to NetEase. Kang's time travel antics could make for a really fun Ultimate where he turns back time, reducing the ultimate cooldown and the fight itself back 30 seconds. If players lost a close team fight, they would essentially get a chance to try again, doubling the intensity of a match when the scrapped big bad of the MCU's Multiverse Saga is involved. Doctor Doom himself is an equally valid option, especially as he is the main character in it Marvel Rivals' lore, although he will likely be sidelined Avengers: Judgment Days debut later in 2026.

Not every villain addition needs to be an Avengers-level threat, though. There are many X-Men villains that could serve as fun additions; Juggernaut as an environment-destroying Vanguard seems like an obvious slam dunk, while Mystique could be a great spy-like Duelist character. Similarly, Spidey's iconic rogues gallery presents a wealth of options. Sandman's shapeshifting means he can basically fill any role as Deadpool, Mysterio's illusions can confuse the enemy team, and Carnage can infect dead bodies to throw AI-controlled attackers at the enemy team. The Green Goblin's Glider would make him a unique flying hero if it could be destroyed to ground him, while giving Doc Ock some giant arms could make him a formidable Vanguard.

Perhaps the strangest of all Marvel Rivals' villain gap is that lore has established several villains that could serve as playable characters. The Symbiote God Knull can and should be more than a background character. Then there's the Kingpin, who even has a completely finished moveset as he doubles as a secret boss battle in the Blood Hunt PvE mode. By extension, the same logic applies to Dracula, even if he isn't as big a name as the other options. Simply put, Marvel Rivals can and should do more with the brand's impressive pool of villains.

Other prominent villain options include, but are not limited to:

Mr. Sinister
The lizard
Bullseye
Dorm mummy
MODOK
Claw
Purple man
Scorpio
Kraven the hunter
Omega Red

Thankfully, it seems Marvel Rivals got the message

Fortunately for those desperate to see Marvel Rivals start diversifying their roster this way, NetEase seems to have laid the groundwork for some rogue additions. First of all, Thanos seems very likely too Marvel Rivals because of the upcoming tie-in game modes for Infinity War and Playoffsand the Mad Titan is likely someone many will love to use (Infinity Gauntlet or not). Additionally, Gorr the God Butcher has been leaked and is almost confirmed for a future season of the hero shooter. Those two characters, plus the inevitable addition of Doctor Doom, would go a long way to fix that Rivalsvillain problems, though they should really only be the tip of the iceberg.