After weeks of speculating following a Loki-looking skin on the Marvel Rivals roadmap, NetEase pulled back the curtain, confirming that the Lady Loki outfit players had been requesting for months was finally on the way. While there was initially some concern that it would simply be a Loki cosplay for Hela, fans breathed a sigh of relief when it was revealed that it would indeed be a Loki skin. Alongside a feminine outfit, a different body, and longer hair, the lady Loki skin also boasts an entirely different voice, with Abby Trott (Magik’s actor) portraying the gender-bent Trickster. Marvel Rivals went above with its Lady Loki skin, and naturally, players expect it to be the first of many.
Marvel Rivals’ Lady Loki skin also surprised players with its price tag. Given the extra work that went into re-recording all the voice lines, players expected it to cost more, but it instead costs the standard 2,400 units (2,700 with the Lady Loki emote bundle). It will be on offer between January 2 and January 29.
While NetEase has certainly knocked it out of the park with Lady Loki, and there is likely interest for similar cosmetics, players shouldn’t expect to start seeing a shop full of skins like this anytime soon. There are a few major reasons for this, so while Lady Loki is sure to be a big seller that inspires similar cosmetics here and there, Marvel Rivals will likely be very selective with the “echo fighter”-like cosmetics. For anyone hoping for more huge makeovers like this one for Loki, which releases tomorrow, here’s why you should temper your expectations a bit.
Why Marvel Rivals’ Lady Loki Skin Will Likely Stand Alone For Some Time
First and foremost is the fact that adding a skin like Lady Loki is no easy task. Unlike throwing a voice changer on a hero, altering the model to make them look like a wolf, or giving them a costume change, Lady Loki required NetEase to have a different actor re-record all the hero’s voice lines. Team-ups, battle chatter, and so on are already confirmed to be present, with it remaining to be seen if pre-match conversations have been altered as well. Regardless, it’s clear that NetEase wants to go above and beyond with anything resembling an Injustice 2 Premiere skin, and revisiting all that dialogue will undoubtedly take time.
Naturally, players hoping or expecting the store to be flooded with female versions of any male Marvel Rivals characters, or vice versa, shouldn’t get their hopes up. Not only will skins like this take time to craft, but NetEase will surely be watching the sales of Lady Loki closely to see if similar cosmetics are even worth pursuing. Sure, the gender-swapped Loki has people talking, but if it doesn’t actually sell, similar cosmetics that fully transform the hero roster wouldn’t be worth the extra time and resources.
Reason 2: Too Many Skins Like Lady Loki Could Create Big Missed Opportunities
Even if Lady Loki proves profitable and players start to see her in every lobby for the foreseeable future, NetEase still likely won’t go overboard with similar skins. Sure, it will start to make more of them, but it’s not going to want to limit its potential for fully new heroes. With a character coming to Marvel Rivals every month, NetEase has to leave room for the roster to keep growing. Lady Loki works because she’s still Loki, with the god of mischief simply changing form like he so often does. She has all the same abilities, the same fight style, and most importantly, the same attitude.
This is why NetEase can’t just add every female version of a Marvel hero and call it a day. Take Spider-Gwen, for instance. Not only does the punk rock version of Gwen have a much different attitude from Peter, but her fight style is similarly distinct, with ballet-like movements and a focus on kicks. Kate Bishop is a similar case, as her personality differs heavily from Clint Barton, not to mention her greater athleticism and fencing skills. Simply having Kate say Clint’s lines and play just like him wouldn’t feel right. Jane Foster Thor is yet another example, as gamers would lose out on her distinct attitude and her unique handling of Mjolnir. And why make Clea a Doctor Strange clone when she could have a whole new arsenal of spells to play with? She-Hulk, Polaris, X-23, Ironheart — the list goes on.
The same logic applies to non-gender-bent skins as well; why give Venom a Carnage skin when Carnage could be his own hero, with distinct dialogue and abilities (like making weapons from the Symbiote)?
Marvel Rivals Still Has Room to Add Several Skins Like Lady Loki
While it’s true that NetEase will have to be selective about its choices for gender-swap skins so as to not rob players out of potentially fun heroes, it still has several options available to it. Some of the best include:
- Lady Deadpool
- She-Venom
- Captain Carter
- Rachel Cole (Punisher)
- Gwenpool
Sure, NetEase could start randomly plucking gender-swapped characters from Earth-TRN454, where every character is gender-bent, if it wants to make skins like Lady Loki a staple of the game. Before it gets there, though, the above options are all ones that would be better to pursue, as they’re significant characters and are more likely to feel like natural additions because of it. Though all signs point to Lady Loki being a surefire success, that’s up for NetEase to determine. If it is, then similar cosmetics can be expected eventually — but players shouldn’t expect them to come out rapidly, nor should they expect characters that would work as standalone heroes to be wasted on skins. NetEase has already stated that figures like Miles Morales, War Machine, and Sam Wilson would be their own heroes and not skins, and the same logic applies to feminine spins on existing Marvel Rivals characters.
- 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
