Marvel Rivals already has 33 heroes, but fans are debating whether another one was hidden in the launch trailer

Marvel Rivals launch trailer screenshot showing Doctor Doom and multiple triangular shards showing images of other characters.
(Image credit: NetEase Games / Marvel Games)

Marvel Rivals is nearly here, and with a launch roster of 33 beloved characters, it's shaping up to be a very promising third-person hero shooter full of fan favorites. However, with so many other Marvel characters that could be added to the ranks, fans are eagerly awaiting any new additions, and some are convinced they've already spotted one. 

Feast your eyes on the Marvel Rivals launch trailer – specifically, at the 45 second mark below. Okay, now pause, rewind, and put it in slow motion. See anything interesting? As has been highlighted across social media, some are convinced that the Princess of Wakanda, Shuri, can be seen in one of those little triangular shards, slightly to the left of the middle of the screen. 

Marvel Rivals | Launch Trailer - YouTube Marvel Rivals | Launch Trailer - YouTube
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"Yup, looks like our girl Shuri," one fan on Reddit says. "Had a feeling we might see her," says another on Twitter. Players in the official Marvel Rivals Discord server were quick to point it out, too: "Did anyone else notice Shuri in the launch trailer?" one asks

However, not everyone is convinced that things are quite so straightforward. For all the Shuri believers, there are others who think we're probably just looking at a low-res picture of Storm and getting ahead of ourselves. Storm is already confirmed to be a playable character, after all – she's one of many Duelists (in basic terms, a DPS character), and already features elsewhere in the trailer.

"Is that not just Storm but low res and badly cropped? Figured it was a roster member," one Reddit user suggests. "Bro that's Storm," another on Twitter comments. "That's obviously Storm but go off," agrees another.

The problem is that the tiny little window the character appears in is so tiny that it's hard to see any details on her properly. Since the frame is cropped, we can't see her outfit, her hair is blurry, and the whole image seems to have a sort of golden filter over it, making it hard to see if she has Storm's white hair or blue eyes. She's definitely wearing earrings, which appear to be hoop-shaped – you could think that'd confirm her as being Storm, but the finer details of her jewelry seen in her official art don't seem to be visible here. 

One thing is for sure: it'd be surprising if the launch roster ended up being any different from what's already been announced, so it'd be quite a shock if Shuri were there from day one. However, who knows, maybe she'll make an appearance later down the line? After all, it's previously been said that "no character is off limits" for the game. For now, though, we'll just have to wait for evidence not tucked away in a tiny triangle.

As Marvel Rivals adds even more DPS characters to its roster, dev reminds players that the team "wanted to move away" from Overwatch's traditional Tank, Support, and Damage roles.

Catherine Lewis
News Writer

I'm one of GamesRadar+'s news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.