Marvel Rivals has truly outdone itself lately with cosmetic skins, which have always been the zenith of the 6v6 hero shooter game’s live-service model. Ironically, Captain America’s Seaside Sentinel skin in Marvel Rivals has caused quite the commotion, and it’s only natural that Marvel Rivals would lean more heavily into skins like these if the demand for them is there.
Black Cat’s release in Marvel Rivals Season 7.5 raised a bunch of eyebrows regarding her sexualized appearance, but the status quo of the game had not changed. Of course, players can enjoy any character and their skins as much or as little as they like, but the averse reaction to Captain America’s new skin, as well as the effect it had on the skin not long after, is the straw that broke the camel’s back for fans who believe there’s a double standard at play between the male and female characters’ skins in Marvel Rivals.
Captain America’s Seaside Sentinel skin originally depicted the super soldier as being incredibly well-endowed. This apparently appalled enough players to voice their backlash, which would normally fall on deaf ears in the game.
What many Marvel Rivals fans on Twitter/X are understandably unhappy about is that these concerns were not only heard, but acted on immediately, with NetEase reducing the size of Captain America’s bulge. Hilariously, Twitter/X user Honeyvonbunny writes, “Nerfing Captain America’s package on the 4th of July is crazy work.”
To be clear, it’s the ‘nerf’ that a lot of fans have a problem with, not the skin’s original proportions. It’s a double standard because, as egregious or exaggerated as this skin’s proportions may seem, the same can and has been said about many of the female characters’ skins, but with no swift action on NetEase’s part to ‘nerf’ them, too.
For example, female characters’ Marvel Rivals skins routinely go viral for how scantily clad they are, such as Black Widow’s Aquatic Assassin skin, Emma Frost’s X-Revolution skin, Hela’s Savage Monarch skin, Invisible Woman’s Malice skin, and Psylocke’s Breezy Butterfly skin.
User Renots_Ls’ revelation is as succinct as possible: “I was gonna say ‘this is fine but the proportions are so extreme it borders on grotesque’ and then I realized.”
Users like D4rkn3ssIV want there to be ‘nerfs’ for female characters, too: “Now that Cap’s package got nerfed, I expect them to change Black Cat’s animation selection, shrink Hela’s boobs, give Widow an outfit that actually covers something, and throw a few extra pieces of fabric on Rogue too. Fair is fair.”
The Seaside Sentinel skin and many of these female characters’ skins belong to Marvel Rivals’ Swimsuit Special collection, and, as bathing suit attire, they are arguably not inherently oversexualized. However, because Captain America’s skin was considered scandalous or NSFW enough to warrant a hasty response and overcorrection in Marvel Rivals, it’s caused quite a few fans to question why these changes were made in this specific case.
- Released
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December 6, 2024
- ESRB
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T For Teen // Violence
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 5