We need Carnage to really make Marvel Rivals better than the MCU

Marvel Rivals is steadily becoming the best representation of Marvel superheroes outside of the comics above the MCU, and adding the red symbiote Carnage would be the ultimate move to cement that fact.

The 37 characters confirmed for the game already make it far more cohesive compared to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but adding the subject of Sony’s biggest film fumbling gives Rivals developer NetEase the chance to double down on what makes it so great.

Carnage can symbolize a true Marvel universe outside of the comics

NetEase Games/Marvel Comics

Despite the rise of the MCU, which characters should and shouldn’t be included has been a constant debate. Many heroes and villains have been unable to join the likes of Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America due to being scattered under the rights ownership of other studios.

In games, though, Marvel Games have all the rights to all characters. Marvel Rivals is making the most of that freedom, and adding Carnage would be the cherry on top.

Carnage, like Spider-Man, Venom, Morbius, Madam Web, and Kraven; was part of films that fell victim to the shared movie universe limited by whicher few rights Sony had.

In Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Carnage didn’t feel unique like his comic book equivalent, coming off as “basically Venom in red”, as one viewer put it

But a Marvel Rivals version of Carnage could be more true to the source material. The game is rated “T for Teen”, so there still can’t be any bloody murder, but there’s plenty of room for dark humor and bouncing off other characters like Peter Parker, Eddie Brock, and even non-Spider-Man related characters like Rocket Racoon.

Carnage would make an excellent DPS or support character

NetEase Games/Marvel Comics

The red symbiote is a madman murder machine in the comics, so he has the potential to be one of the most insane Duelists in Rivals. As a counter to Venom, a slow yet disruptive Vanguard, Carnage can be a fast-moving, manic attacker who dives for close and medium-range slashing damage.

Although DPS Duelists have typically low health, Carnage could have some limited healing abilities to make him more dangerous, with some caveats like lower base attack damage to keep him balanced.

On the other hand, NetEase could also utilize Carnage’s comic abilities of making new symbiotes and controlling other characters, to make him a support / Strategist hero.

As one player on Reddit suggested, Carnage could use his symbiotic skills to drain enemies’ health and transfer it to his teammates. Or his violent nature could influence his allies and temporarily buff their attack stats, or intimidate enemies to debuff them for a limited time.

These powerful abilities could be balanced by making Carnage more vulnerable, perhaps with a lower health bar than other supports.

Sadly, we may be waiting quite a while for Carnage to make his way into Marvel Rivals. Not only were they not among the leaked list of future characters, but it makes sense if NetEase held off on adding more Spider-Man-esque characters for a while.

Although symbiotes are “Spider-Man adjacent” as another player on Reddit pointed out, adding Carnage to heroes with similar abilities like Venom, Peni Parker, and Spider-Man himself so soon, may seem like a disservice to other Marvel groups like the X-Men.

Nevertheless, as long as Marvel Rivals can maintain its high player count, the game will have a future with many opportunities for an eventual Carnage debut.