Important takeaways
- Marvel Rivals can feature iconic locations like Manhattan and Wakanda, offering different map experiences.
- Xavier's School and Hammer Bay can be exciting battlegrounds, with unique gameplay opportunities.
- Potential maps like Ego The Living Planet and Atlantis could introduce dynamic elements to enhance gameplay.
When it comes to a franchise as long lasting as Marvelthere is an unimaginably large number of options to draw from series, movies and TV when it comes to designing new maps. But with the launch of NetEase's 6v6 shooter just three months away, fans have only seen a total of two spots so farspread across a selection of four maps that were available to play during the game's beta.
Timestream Entanglement caused by Dr. Doom opens up a world of possibilities for places to enrich the game's lore, so here are some places our heroes can visit when timelines and universes collide.
10 Manhattan, New York
A familiar border
Perhaps the most mandatory addition to the game's map pool, New York has served as the battle zone for countless battles across the country Marvel universe. Shooting a payload through the city streets – with Stark Tower as a potential final control point for the attackers to reach – could serve as a good target for a game mode.
And with the starting point Marvel Rivals where different worlds collide, the team was able to approach this in some very interesting ways. For example, merging a modern New York with the futuristic version inhabited by Peni Parker 3145.
9 Xavier's School for Gifted Youth
The perfect school for a skirmish
Rivals already has its fair share of X-Men, so it would make sense for Xavier's Institute to make an appearance in this game, possibly as a dominance map. Moving between the inside of the school and the area around it as both teams try to capture multiple checkpoints would work like a dream here.
The destructible environments were included in Rivals can allow teams to be incredibly creative with the way they play, such as breaking through floorboards to move between levels of the building or crashing out of windows to reach the lush gardens of the X-Mansion.
8 Kingdom of Wakanda
A land of prosperity
With the King of Wakanda himself an established member of the game's cast, it would be great to see this highly advanced nation featured as it would fit perfectly in Rivals' map list. The country is incredibly varied in its terrainso implementing it as a convergence map would take full advantage of this potential.
The best-of-three game mode could see players battle it out across a range of arenas, amongst its sublime mountain ranges and thick jungles; to within the city's intricate infrastructure; to the deep underground where its high-speed trains for the Maglev trains are kept.
7 Hammer Bay, Genosha
A mutiny for mutants
Located on the east coast of Africa, this fictional country serves as home to the city of Hammer Bay, where many X-Men were once held captive by the Magistrate of Genoshan. The attackers' goal here may be to capture the area and free the trapped mutants, while the defenders try to hold the site down to prevent the breakout.
This also opens up space for Rivalsto make one Monitoring-style teasing for a new hero in the future, update the map to have an X-Man or two mysteriously missing from their cells.
6 Muspelheim, Kingdom of Fire
Duel in the depths of hell
Marvel Rivals have already confirmed the inclusion of three Asgardian gods as well as their home Asgard, so it would make sense to see another of the ten worlds introduced. And while all would be more than worthy choices, this realm of eternal fire would add some nice visual variety to the game's map selection.
Environmental effects such as exploding lava pools and caverns of fire can be incorporated making the map more dynamic, and shooting a payload across the bridges suspended above its flaming canyons can provide a fascinating yet terrifying scenery.
5 Ego The Living Planet
A Celestial Stadium
The Guardians of the Galaxy have seen more love than Marvel would have ever imagined since their 2014 film took the superhero genre by storm, so it would only make sense to show them some love with a map of their own. Star Lord's celestial father was the antagonist in the team's second adventure on the big screen, whom they eventually defeated by detonating a bomb inside his brain.
Transport an explosive to detonate in his core could serve as the target here as well, with Ego growing increasingly angry with each control point a player takes, requiring players to stop and altering the environment around them.
4 The lost city of Atlantis
A country long forgotten
The mutant Namor hasn't seen much airtime in recent X-Men projects, though experienced a resurgence in popularity then his MCU debut in 2022 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. With this, there is a good chance that players will see this fallen kingdom come into the spotlight Marvel Rivals as the King of Atlantis gets his own map.
The introduction of Atlantis would likely mean the city rises out of the water for our heroes to fight, otherwise it might be a little harder to play for some of the non-aquatic members of Rivals' cast.
3 Xandar, home of the Nova Corps
The Interplanetary Police Station
With Timestream Entanglement, the structure of the multiverse changes completelyan intergalactic force as powerful as the Nova Corps would likely be involved in such a serious situation. A battle taking place in their homeland of Xandar would fit in nicely here.
This can be done either with the site in its natural flourishing state or in the aftermath of an attack by invaders such as Thanos or the Skrulls. This would also leave the potential for Richard Rider – better known as Nova – to join Rivals', which would be a beneficial addition for many series fans.
2 Spider-HQ, New York
Besiege the Spider Society
Miles Morales has seen a lot of success latelywith both of his animated films receiving high praise from critics and fans alike. The Spider Society's home of Nueva York, which appeared in the second film, would fit perfectly into this versatile map list.
The infrastructure at the base of society is absolutely amazing to look at, but could make for an incredibly interesting gravity-based map mechanic. With the third and final film in the trilogy set to be released in the coming years, this spot could likely be released at the same time as the film, along with a playable Miles himself.
1 Doomstadt, Latveria
The doctor's residence
With Doctor Doom as the catalyst for this game's events, his home Latveria will certainly appear at one point or another. Sieging Castle Von Doom would likely be the map's goal, but the reason for this largely depends on the direction the game chooses to take its lore.
With the evil Victor Von Doom pitted against his 2099 counterpart in this game, the team has many choices as to how they might want to depict the Doctor's domain. Either way, the encounter feels more than necessary and will be another welcome result of Doom's recent popularity.
