The first trailer for Marvel Rivals Season 1 has confirmed Count Dracula will be the villain of the game’s first major storyline, unleashing vampires on the game’s roster of heroes – which will soon include The Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, The Thing).
A new plot-focussed trailer sees Dracula taking over New York, even rechristening Avengers Tower with a ‘V’ for Vampire. The villain has defeated Doctor Strange and many of Earth’s greatest defenders, leaving a corrupted world in his wake. It’ll be up to the Fantastic Four, and a lineup of other surviving heroes, to push back against the darkness, and restore order to the world.
It seems a strange choice to spotlight the Fantastic Four in this plot, given Marvel has a very neat lineup of supernatural heroes with specific vampire-killing strengths (think Blade, Morbius, Moon Knight, and the wider Midnight Suns/Sons team) – but at the very least, the Fantastic Four do have their own powerful abilities that should prove useful.
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The Thing is literally a pile of rocks, and unlikely to be edible. The Human Torch is vulnerable in human form, but pretty immune as a living flame. Invisible Woman has her force fields, which makes her pretty tough to fight. And of course, Mister Fantastic could probably ooze his way out of a vampire encounter.
In any case, it’s great to see Marvel’s “First Family” debut in Marvel Rivals, and that they’ll be given a meaty storyline to fight through. Per NetEase, the “Eternal Night Falls” chapter will be narrative-driven, as it sees “the Fantastic Four join[ing] forces with iconic Marvel heroes, standing together in the epic battle to break the mystical darkness with science.”
Doctor Doom will also play a role in proceedings, as he teams with Dracula to “disrupt the moon’s orbit, plunging the city into eternal night and unleashing an army of vampiric creatures.”
At this stage, it appears Dracula will not be playable, but his clawed hands will be all over the story aspects of this chapter, as players team up to push back against his forces of darkness.
Why is Dracula in Marvel Rivals?
As for why Dracula is appearing in a Marvel game, it’s worth noting the character has been part of the Marvel Universe since the 1970s. He starred in his own comic books, as well as featuring in titles like Spider-Man, and later Doctor Strange, Blade, X-Men, and more.
With the character being available in the public domain, he can really go where he pleases – and Marvel has used that fact to build their own lore and story for him. In the 2010s, he fought the X-Men. In the 2020s, with the launch of Marvel’s Blood Hunt storyline, he also fought The Avengers. And why not? The best comics are fun and silly. The best comics feature Dracula.
Those keen to jump in for new battles against the ancient vampire won’t have to wait long – Marvel Rivals Season 1 is set to kick off on 10 January 2025.
