Marvel Rivals fantastic first post-launch character has leaked—and it opens the door to more fan-favorites

The long-anticipated launch of Marvel Rivals is now within touching distance and excitement is rising. But despite everything on offer, this is certainly not the end of the road—and we’ve already had a big leak for what lies ahead.

Marvel Rivals launches with a whopping roster of 33 characters, all of whom are available for free, spanning across the vast universe that Marvel has created—although there is one curious absence, with Marvel’s first family omitted.

That looks to be changing, however, as RivalLeaks posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Mister Fantastic is debuting in Marvel Rivals, with an initial post of character art followed by an overview of his skills and abilities.

With the character art looking complete and the ability loadout also looking ready, Mister Fantastic may now be the leading contender to arrive as Marvel Rivals first post-launch character, and the representation of the Fantastic Four opens the door to many more fan-favorites.

Though the obvious candidates would be the other members of the team, the Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and the Thing, the Fantastic Four have over 60 years of history in the comics, with the series introducing the likes of the Silver Surfer, Annihilus, Kang the Conqueror, and more.

Bringing Mister Fantastic into the fray makes sense for the lore of Marvel Rivals, where Doctor Doom, the team’s biggest antagonist, plays a central role as the character is battling with his 2099 counterpart, which causes the “Timestream Entanglement” that has resulted in characters from various multiverses battling each other in-game.

Given Mister Fantastic is a leak, it’s no surprise that there is no concrete information about when Reed Richards will arrive in Marvel Rivals. But it’s expected each season will debut new characters and environments—with season one set to begin in January, following the conclusion of Season Zero, which is shorter than the upcoming seasons.

It’s great news for Marvel fans that Mister Fantastic is set to arrive in Marvel Rivals, particularly given he and other Fantastic Four characters have often been overlooked in the past due to the movie licensing being with Fox. Now they’re back under the Disney umbrella, there’s plenty more that could be on the cards.

I’m all for more characters being introduced into Marvel Rivals and cannot wait to get stuck in with everything the game has to offer, particularly as it seems both the big names and lesser-known characters are being incorporated into the title—which gives me hope for Nova’s introduction somewhere down the line.