Marvel Rivals is gearing up for the release of its eighth season, which will add Devil Dinosaur and Cyclops to the roster alongside balance changes and PC optimization.
Marvel Rivals Adds Devil Dinosaur and Cyclops as Playable Characters
Rivals’ New "Dino-mite," Dystopian Season
Marvel Rivals has revealed its upcoming eighth season, "Sins of Alchemax," with a new cinematic trailer, a gameplay reveal trailer for the previously-teased Devil Dinosaur, and a Dev. Vision breaking down the new season. The game will see the inclusion of Devil Dinosaur alongside the launch of Season 8 on May 15, while Cyclops will be added during the mid-season update sometime in June.
The gameplay trailer for Devil Dinosaur on Rivals’ social media accounts confirms that the character will be a Vanguard, with a moveset focused on chasing enemies down and using his massive jaws and laser beams to attack enemies. He will also have shields for the team and the ability to generate health for himself, as well as a unique "bleed" mechanic where enemies lose health over time after certain attacks.
Furthermore, Devil Dinosaur will receive a new team-up with The Punisher, which lets Frank ride on the dinosaur as a steed. Punisher will be limited to his two primary attacks and his smoke grenade while riding Devil Dinosaur, but will receive reduced damage and shared healing.
Cyclops, meanwhile, was revealed in an animated trailer where he’s seen fighting off Alchemax soldiers and protecting Moon Girl after their attempted takeover of the dystopian future city Nueva York. While no gameplay has been shown for Scott yet, Marvel Rivals’ developers have interestingly confirmed that it follows the "punch dimension portals" explanation for Cyclops’ powers. The source of Cyclops’ powers has long been in contention within the Marvel community, and a popular fan theory that suggests that his eyes are portals to a dimension of pure, ruby colored concussive force has been both confirmed and denied by Marvel throughout its history.
Moon Girl Won’t be Joining Devil Dinosaur in Rivals
Much to the dismay of Marvel fans, especially within the Rivals community, Devil Dinosaur’s best friend Moon Girl (a.k.a. Lunella Lafayette) will not be a part of the character’s gameplay or moveset. While fans have been disappointed at her exclusion, Marvel Rivals-partnered creator Miller Ross has provided a detailed explanation for Lunella’s absence from the roster.
Ross wrote on X (Twitter) that Moon Girl has been considered for the Rivals roster for some time, but due to the character’s young age and her status as an Inhuman, both Marvel and Netease were very hesitant to add her as a playable character. He notes that the character being 10 years old made the prospect of her appearing in battle next to characters like The Punisher contentious for the game’s rating.
Specifically, he points out that multiple rating boards have stricter guidelines for "child combatants" which games like Marvel Mystic Mayhem (a game by NetEase and Marvel which features Moon Girl as a playable character) meet through depicting cartoon violence. Ross also notes that Marvel has been making a concerted effort to phase out the Inhumans from its expanded media franchises, as seen in controversies such as retconning Ms. Marvel from an Inhuman to a Mutant in Marvel Comics canon.
Instead, the Rivals developers have decided to add Moon Girl as a background character within the lore who appears in voice lines with Devil Dinosaur. While the Rivals team has debated ageing Lunella up, similar to Peni Parker, it's been decided that her age was simply too intrinsic to the character and could not be changed.
Marvel Rivals Reduces File Size on PC
Alongside the usual changes for the new Season, Marvel Rivals will also optimize the PC version by having the HD textures as a separate 35GB download. Players, particularly those on lower-end systems, can now opt out of downloading the game’s HD textures for smoother gameplay and less-used storage space.
These optimization fixes were announced after Marvel Rivals started warning players against using modified configurations that remove textures from the game, something both cheaters and players on weaker hardware have used. They will be applied to the PC client on May 15 alongside the launch of Season 8.
Season 8 will also host new balance changes, specifically rolling out buffs for underperforming heroes like Iron Fist, Emma Frost, and Mr. Fantastic. There will also be a new, Alchemax-based map for the Doom Match mode, alongside new cosmetics for Devil Dinosaur, Deadpool, and Hulk. The new Hulk skin, in particular, has been met with excitement from the community as the character has not received any new cosmetics since Season 4.
Marvel Rivals is out now for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. For more on Marvel’s multiversal multiplayer hero shooter, read our article here:
Sources:
Marvel Rivals - Official Season 8 Dev Vision Vol. 17
Marvel Rivals - Official 'Sins of Alchemax' Season 8 Trailer
Marvel Rivals - Official Devil Dinosaur Character Reveal Trailer
. They are locked out of child combatants by I believe multiple ratings boards, and there's also huge branding concerns with creating 1st party footage of, say, the Punisher shooting a 10 year old Moon Girl. That's not a road Marvel Games has any interest in going down, for very obvious reasons. - @mmmmmmmmiller
