“Suddenly, he was asking me to tell him more about Hela.” — Marvel Rivals finally got the son of MCU chief Kevin Feige into the comic characters

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Introducing your children to your profession isn’t always straightforward, even if you’re the head of Marvel Studios and Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Kevin Feige.

In an interview with TheWrap, Feige revealed that his son wasn’t initially intrigued by his Marvel character-related work until the emergence of Marvel Rivals, a free-to-play game from NetEase Games, which debuted in December 2024.

“All of a sudden, he began asking me to tell him more about Hela, The Punisher, and other characters,” Feige said. “Then he started seeking them out in the shows.” Feige also mentioned Jeff the Land Shark, who hasn’t yet made an appearance in the MCU.

Jeff is noteworthy for Feige to mention because he hasn’t been introduced in the MCU yet.

Though Marvel Rivals follows its own complex continuity — featuring a continuous storyline with various character versions from different points in the Marvel timeline, such as Marvel 2099 — the game’s design has clearly been impacted by the MCU in numerous ways, big and small.

For instance, in the game, Loki and Hela are portrayed as adoptive siblings, similar to their dynamic in the 2017 film Thor: Ragnarok, rather than father and daughter as in Norse mythology and the original Marvel comics.

Marvel Rivals may be helping the MCU, in very small ways

As video game adaptations of popular movies and TV shows increase, there’s a lot of conversation about how these productions can positively impact each other. For instance, Prime Video’s Fallout series showcased the game’s environment to a fresh audience, potentially attracting new players and sparking positive word-of-mouth, which led to a surge in sales for Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 around the same time as the show’s launch.

Similarly, it seems that Marvel Rivals could be experiencing a reverse effect. With an abundance of outfits based on Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) characters available for purchase, such as themed skins and character packs, there’s speculation that the upcoming Fantastic Four movie might pique interest in younger audiences who haven’t been avid MCU fans before.

The game’s upcoming addition of Fantastic Four-themed skins is scheduled to launch on the same day as the movie, July 25, 2025. Given that Marvel Rivals has already surpassed 40 million players since its release, it’s likely that this crossover will attract even more attention from a younger demographic.

Moreover, there could be indirect benefits for Marvel as a whole. The recent introduction of swimsuit-themed outfits for characters like Loki happened to coincide with the return of Marvel’s Swimsuit Special comic book, indicating a potential connection between the game and Marvel’s other media.

Marvel Rivals is currently playable on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (via Steam and the Epic Games Store), and PlayStation 5.

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2025-07-22 00:39