Marvel Rivals May Have Just Teased a Hero That’s Never Been Playable in a Marvel Game

Marvel Rivals players have a fairly good idea of the hero shooter’s upcoming character releases. Rogue has already been confirmed for the next midseason update, joining her partner Gambit to round out the major content drops of “Love is a Battlefield.” Players can expect Deadpool and Elsa Bloodstone in Season 6, not only because of some character leaks, but because of what looks to be their silhouettes on a Season 5 gallery card. After that, the Marvel Rivals community can expect X-Men leader Cyclops to join the fight thanks to his cameo at Gambit and Rogue’s wedding, with a Season 7 debut seeming viable. It’s anyone’s guess who will be accompanying Scott Summers, though there’s now a real chance he could be accompanied by Galacta, which practically nobody saw coming.

While Marvel Rivals players figured that Doctor Doom would be the most powerful character to eventually join the playable cast of the game, as his release is expected closer to the debut of the MCU film Avengers: Doomsday, Galacta would be an even more powerful figure. Thus far, she’s served as the announcer for Marvel Rivals matches, commenting on the heroes’ wins, losses, and personal journies through match dialogue and event lore. Fans expected Galacta to continue in this role and only this role, but after she was given a physical form in the Anniversary event trailer, there’s now a real chance that her role evolves.

Galacta’s New Character Model Changes Everything

Image via NetEase

Prior to this unexpected Galacta design being unveiled, she was depicted primarily through cute drawings and sprays. She did have a 3D model on the Season 0 battle pass screen, which NetEase could have easily re-used for her trailer appearance, but it instead chose to completely redesign Galacta for the anniversary festivities. The new look gives Galacta:

• A different hairstyle, going from long loose hair to an up-do with white highlights.
• Galacta’s helmet is removed in favor of purple glasses and only the smaller “wings” of the helmet remain.
• Galacta has been given some light blue lipstick that’s reminiscent of Emma Frost.
• Galacta dons a completely new outfit, wearing a transparent pink jacket with a purple crop top underneath.

While there’s a small chance that NetEase felt the need to go above and beyond and give an important NPC a special casual outfit, that seems largely unnecessary. It’s not like Galacta is an NPC players interact with in the pre-match lobby like Spider-Zero on Tokyo 2099 — and even then, going through the extra effort to remodel a character who really just hangs out in the spawn room for some extra dialogue would feel like a waste of resources. Galacta is rarely shown physically in Marvel Rivals, with players primarily hearing her voice as she gives commentary on the multiplayer action as it unfolds. Creating an in-game character model for Galacta feels purposeful, then, suggesting that she could be taking on a larger role in Marvel Rivals sooner rather than later. Perhaps she’ll be added as an NPC to an upcoming Marvel Rivals map, or feature in future PvE content as an ally or boss, but it’s just as likely that this model was created because Galacta will soon be a playable hero.

Marvel Rivals Making Galacta Playable Would Be a Video Game First

Marvel games have been getting releases for decades, yet across the hundreds of licensed titles, Galacta has not been playable even once. Games with big rosters like Ultimate Alliance haven’t included her, nor have fighting games like Marvel vs. Capcom. Galacta isn’t even playable in the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes franchise, which is packed with niche characters alongside all the household names. The one exception would technically be the Galacta card in Marvel Snap, but that’s hardly the same as properly controlling the daughter of Galactus and wielding her powers.

If Galacta’s character model really does turn out to be a first look at a playable version of the character, it’s worth thinking about what that would look like. On paper, Galacta seems like a natural fit for Marvel Rivals’ Strategist role. Since she boasts the power Cosmic like her father (choosing to eat cosmic constructs instead of planets like the villain she’s related to), her kit could see her consuming Chronovium to boost her abilities. Galacta can essentially do anything, with the ability to warp time and reality. Her Ultimate could see her creating a black hole that pulls all friends and foes together, healing the former over time while damaging the latter. Teleportation like Overwatch’s Reaper could be her source of movement, and her ability to absorb damage could be key to making her healing stand out. A tanky Strategist would feel new for Rivals, with Galacta deliberately taking damage to redistribute it to her allies.

image via netease

While some players have made jokes about Galacta’s repetitive dialogue like “big win” being annoying, she could have tons of interesting conversations with the cast since she knows everything about them. Hearing her chat with a fellow fourth-wall-breaker like the (supposedly) soon-to-be introduced Deadpool would prove especially entertaining. Though there’s no guarantee that Galacta’s new character design will lead to something more, there’s a real chance it could, with Marvel Rivals breaking new ground for the comic book brand’s games.

Released

December 6, 2024

ESRB

T For Teen // Violence

Developer(s)

NetEase Games

Publisher(s)

NetEase Games