It’s hard enough to keep track of all of the winding storylines, reboots, and different universes in Marvel comics. Now, a video game has thrown another wrinkle into the equation.
In the latest issue of The Amazing Spider-Man (#25), we now have official confirmation that Marvel Rivals exists as a video game in the “prime” Marvel universe, Earth-616, the base of many of the main comic book stories and arcs. How the hell does any of this work? I don’t know, but it’s still pretty cool.
In the comic, a panel shows Eddie Brock’s (the original Venom) son, Dylan, playing the game, and, naturally, he’s a Spider-Man main. And then there’s a guy named Paul with the meta reference, saying he “can’t believe they still haven’t nerfed Gambit.” There’s a whole bunch of history there that we could dive into, but it’s just a funny reference that still makes me scratch my head.
For example, if Marvel Rivals exists as a video game on Earth-616, then that means everything about the game exists there, too, including the game’s plot, all of its playable characters, and a myriad of voice lines and dialogue between the heroes, exposing their secret identities.
And what if Marvel Rivals eventually adds a hero from Earth-616 to the game? The entire idea behind the hero shooter is that it includes Marvel characters from across the multiverse and from different universes entirely. Will they know they’re in a video game, breaking all immersion for them whatsoever?
I jest. This is all very silly, but I also think it’s very cool that Marvel Rivals has gotten big enough and successful enough to earn its place forever in Marvel comics lore within Earth-616, even if it asks a ton of questions that may never be answered. Suspension of disbelief, and all that. Admittedly, I haven’t read the comics in quite some time, so I don’t know how this all fits in anyway.
But if even Paul thinks Gambit needs more nerfs, then maybe NetEase Games should be reading these books to stay up to date on balancing suggestions. He’s still a top choice for Strategist in season seven, after all.
