Defending Marvel Rivals’ Portrayal of Blade

Okay, so here’s the deal—Marvel Rivals, right? This game’s like, the king of leaks. I mean, seriously, just days after its launch in December, someone datamined a whole bunch of characters. Blade was one of them—Marvel’s Daywalker. Fast forward seven months, and guess what? Blade’s still MIA as a playable hero. Weirdly enough, he’s just hanging around as an NPC on some maps.

Now, rumors are buzzing that Season 3, which kicks off on July 11, might finally include Blade. Folks have been both cheering and shaking their fists about how Marvel Rivals is handling this. But honestly, making a big deal over someone like Blade? That’s exactly what these live-service games need to do to stay alive, I think.

So, here’s what Marvel Rivals has been doing—throwing curveballs with its picks for heroes. Keeps us on our toes, right? They roll out at least two new heroes every season, and that’s what’s kept the hype train rolling for six months. Each hero is like a new toy with unique moves and roles to explore, feeding the speculation monster fans love.

Even though there’s a list of characters rumored to join, their arrival remains a total mystery. Like, there was this Ultron kit leak in December, but he only just made an appearance! So, yeah, speculation is part of the game.

As of now—and keep in mind, this could change any second—Blade’s at the heart of everyone’s speculation just ahead of Season 3. The journey to maybe, possibly, someday playing as Blade? Man, it’s been wild. He showed up in Season 1 in this Gallery Card being restrained by Dracula. Then, bam, there he was chained up in Central Park when that map dropped. And he broke free just as the season ended!

He’s on the Wakanda map now, or, well, he was. These little plot points build that sweet suspense live-service games thrive on. Every Blade sighting cranked up the excitement dial, which is part of the plan, to keep folks locked in and chatting.

So yeah, leaks say Blade’ll be a Duelist armed with a sword, shotgun, and some self-healing action. Sounds epic, but some fans are bummed out wanting to play him ASAP. The slow build is actually a long game strategy, keeping people buzzing about what’s to come but also feeding them good storyline bits for now.

NetEase has the tall order of delivering a Blade that pays off this long tease. Fingers crossed, they nail it, turning all this anticipation into some epic gaming moments.