NetEase Games has pledged to release at least one new Marvel Rivals hero every half-season, but that hasn't stopped a 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 video showcasing what appears to be rough gameplay from NetEase's popular hero shooter. The footage initially seems to focus on a pre-Hulk Bruce Banner suspended in a testing room, but a closer look reveals a surprisingly polished, Marvel Rivals-styled Doctor Octopus.

We need more vanguards, so i made one (Doctor Octopus)
by u/Wickedcube in marvelrivals

.reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; }The animation is slightly stiff, but the resemblance is undeniable. WickedCube's concept cleverly incorporates Doc Ock's signature tentacles, allowing for magnetized movement around obstacles, essentially giving the character a form of flight when near stable structures—a unique mechanic in a game with destructible environments. This impressive prototype even features named abilities: Havoc Claw for melee attacks and Wrecking Grip for ranged combat. With over 16,000 upvotes at the time of writing, it's a testament to WickedCube's skill and creativity.

"Doc Ock has always been one of the coolest Spider-Man villains, and his tentacles would be a challenge to implement," WickedCube explained, detailing their inspiration. "As far as I know, they haven't been fully implemented with playable 3D movement in a game before." The idea, WickedCube shared, stemmed from a recent PSN outage and some inspiring Doc Ock fan art.

"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 overwhelmingly positive response, with many urging NetEase to incorporate the design, has been incredibly rewarding for WickedCube. While there are no plans to further polish the current design, WickedCube intends to release a playable version and share the process through a YouTube tutorial series and open-source the code on GitHub, making it available on Itch.io.

NetEase continues its Marvel Rivals post-launch momentum, releasing two official characters this Friday: Human Torch and The Thing. This follows the recent launch of Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman, demonstrating a remarkably strong start that surpasses competitors. However, the vast potential of Marvel's universe continues to inspire fan creations.

"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," they added. "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 February 21st, featuring the new characters, balance adjustments, and gameplay tweaks.