Marvel Rivals is a Cosplay Guide and Reference Goldmine
(featured image by masoq095 via X)
San Diego Comic-Con 2025. Attendees swarmed around Marvel cosplay attendees dressed as Goddess of Thunder Storm and All-Butcher Loki, with LED-lit Mjolnirs and sound effects blasting everywhere.
No. I didn’t come from the future. But we can sure hell already imagine the cosplay community to rave about these designs sooner or later. And no, these didn’t come from the comics or movies either, but from Marvel Rivals, that free-to-play hero shooter from 2023. The game has become this weird cultural phenomenon, even becoming a petty ground for social politics. But for the simpler nerds, it is a mystical cosplay goldmine.
For those sleeping under a rock these past few years, Marvel Rivals is a 6v6 hero shooter by NetEase and Marvel Games. Think Overwatch, but Marvel characters. The discussion of its release details and early mechanics alone already deserves hours worth of discussion. But, for this specific blog, we’ll focus on the cosmetics. If I am not mistaken, the game launched with 155+ skins, now over 200 in Season 2. As you might have guessed, it’s not just purely original designs, the fan-service tradition of mixing earlier comic designs, and MCU looks are also in the mix.
And that is precisely the point. Infinity War Captain America had its time to shine already in several Marvel games over the last few years. It is time for Mirae 2099 Luna Snow to become one of the next blueprints for actual costumes.
The Rare-tier skins copying movie looks are convention staples now. But the Legendary-tier designs? I’m pretty sure they can easily the spotlight in the near future. Storm's Goddess of Thunder, for example, is an Asgardian armor with lightning effects. I bet cosplayers will be matching it with 3D-printed Mjolnirs with programmable LEDs just to match the game.
Limited-time bundles have created this trend of coordinated group cosplays. Dancing Lions (wuxia-inspired Iron Fist and Black Widow) and The Life Fantastic (wedding-themed Fantastic Four) can still be great paired ideas, though they may struggle against established seasonal Eastern cosplays. Imagine a 12-person group doing the entire Punk Society lineup with guitar props for Ironheart's Rock N' Riri skin. That would be some serious coordination just for a convention photoshoot.
Of course, when it comes to Marvel Rivals costume designs, it currently thrives on controversy. Ironically, its most viral moments come from design arguments. When they released Malice skin for Sue Storm - that leather dominatrix redesign with sheer parts - Twitter basically exploded. Critics called it "regressive male gaze fantasy" while defenders said it was comic-accurate. Things got weirder when word that Twitch streamer Aruuu claimed NetEase used her body measurements for the model, which technically was the second time, since her proportions were first used on Psylocke.
In-game, limited-time bundles that only last 24 hours get criticized for exploiting FOMO. But the ideas that come from these virtual items drive cosplay demand too. It is easy to assume that some people might even be looking forward to grabbing them immediately for quick reference ideas, in case “donators” are not found within the first 24 hours.
Now that I think about it, Aruuu's "reuse" situation probably even sparked a random Discord copypasta somewhere online, with an infinite thread of replies either praising the work or parodying its message. Milk the controversy until the very end, as my friend often says.
Love it or hate its other controversial elements, I can very much assure you that Marvel Rivals is yet another boon on cosplay culture. Characters that are relatively less popular even for comic fans, like mohawked mutant rebel Punkchild Magik, may hit the fashion floor in the next few months. Skins like 1872 Black Widow (steampunk cowgirl) will be a good incentive for mixing materials like leather and LEDs in ways they wouldn't have tried. Season 2's gifting feature lets creators raffle skins, fostering collaborative projects through other accounts.
At this point, I’m fairly convinced that Marvel Rivals isn't even just a game anymore - it's has become this cultural filter revealing what people love and hate about modern fandom. Its costumes trigger both awe and outrage, sometimes for the same design. As the line between digital designs and physical costumes blurs, one thing is clear: controversy doesn't kill creativity. Anything that goes viral, whether negative or positive, just gets fueled by it.
So... new Hulk kigurumi onesie Marvel cosplay guides very soon?