Out of all Spider-Man’s rogues’ gallery, Shocker is widely recognized as the most underwhelming and pitiable laughingstock, if not the biggest punching bag. Herman Schultz’s gimmick is not terribly interesting or novel, and nowadays he’s rarely depicted as someone whom Spider-Man has any trouble subduing. Not every antagonist Spider-Man faces needs to be an Avengers-level threat, to be fair, and Shocker is traditionally a succinct reminder of the valiant street-level crime-fighting Peter Parker accomplishes as a friendly neighborhood wall-crawler.
Marvel Rivals hasn’t taken any stabs at Spider-Man villains beyond Venom. Marvel Rivals is only in its second season, however, and has years of potential new and inspired content to indulge in, so other Spider-Man villains arriving in the future doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility at all. Shocker may seem like the least likely Spider-Man ‘villain’ to be considered, especially due to how many other popular and seminal antagonists there are in Spider-Man’s tangled web. But, his lack of flavor aside, a Marvel Rivals Shocker could be the most valuable and memorable version of the character.
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Shocker Could Add a Lot to Knockback Versatility in Marvel Rivals
Shocker’s vibro-shock gauntlets don’t typically amount to anything remarkable, at least while nearly all of Spider-Man’s other foes are more creative in terms of their appearance and abilities. That said, Marvel Rivals is in dire need of more characters whose kits enable greater exploitation of maneuverability, and Shocker could provide just that.
Indeed, Shocker’s whole kit could revolve around knockbacks and movement tech inspired by Invisible Woman and Punisher. Several characters have great knockback potential, such as Black Widow’s Edge Dancer, Emma Frost’s Crystal Kick, and Hawkeye’s Crescent Slash, but Marvel Rivals’ Invisible Woman is quite unique with a psionic energy ability that propels enemies either away from or toward her, and she doesn’t need to be in melee range to do so.
Invisible Woman doesn’t have much in the way of offensive combat, and Force Physics is a phenomenal tool in her kit as it allows her to maintain distance between herself and opponents or hurl them near her if that would put them in a precarious position.
Shocker’s vibro-shock gauntlets wouldn’t necessarily need to go as far as to copy Invisible Woman note for note and be able to launch enemies inward, though letting him launch enemies outward from a distance would be a great ability to double down on. Moreover, Shocker’s vibro-shock gauntlets could feasibly launch enemies into the air, not unlike Thing’s Clobberin’ Time Ult.
Shocker Could Improve Movement Tech Metas
Marvel Rivals’ Punisher is more than just a hitscan duelist, even if the tech that his kit provides is exceedingly situational and dependent on the surrounding environment. One ability, Scourge Grenade, fires a smoke grenade that impairs affected enemies’ vision and launches Punisher backward out of the fray.
A Marvel Rivals Shocker could be the most valuable and memorable version of the character.
Interestingly, this ability gives Punisher a neat bit of movement tech where a Scourge Grenade aimed at the floor will propel him into the air, allowing him to reposition himself vertically and leap to otherwise unreachable platforms. Punisher’s Vantage Connection ability is useful when players wish to ride a linear-trajectory zipline, but it isn’t as efficient or quick in the heat of battle.
Punisher has become increasingly valuable in Marvel Rivals’ Season 2.5 as a counter to the rise of flying character comps, especially with the Team-Up he shares with Black Widow, Operation: Microchip, which adds a piercing-damage Pulse Mode to Black Widow’s Red Room Rifle and grants Punisher, as the anchor, 25 maximum health and a 5% damage boost.
Shocker could ideally have the same movement tech baked into his kit’s vibro-shock gauntlet attacks, where vibrational bursts meant to launch enemies backward send him flying upward if they’re directed at surfaces beneath him. This way, Shocker could be phenomenal when it comes to knocking enemies back off a control point or off a map while also navigating maps with finesse and fluidity.
Marvel Rivals
9/10
- Released
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December 6, 2024
- ESRB
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T For Teen // Violence
- Developer(s)
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NetEase Games
- Publisher(s)
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NetEase Games
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 5