Back in early 2025, I was one of the 20 million people who jumped into Marvel Rivals within its first two weeks. I told myself it was just a superhero shooter. I was wrong. By 2026, Rivals is not just a game I play; it is a cultural monster that has swallowed Marvel fandom whole. Two months after launch, well over 100,000 people were playing on Steam alone on a Monday morning. Today, that number feels less like a peak and more like a baseline. So when I saw that Rivals had its own section on Disney Plus, I had one question: how did we get here? 🎮
I first noticed the change through posts from players and outlets like Culture Crave. A new row called 'Featuring Characters From Marvel Rivals' started appearing on Disney Plus. Culture Crave shared a screenshot that included Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Ragnarok, and Captain America: Civil War. That last one makes perfect sense to me: Civil War is basically a Marvel Rivals lobby before the game existed. You have Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Ant-Man, Scarlet Witch, Winter Soldier, and more. It is a roster showcase disguised as a movie. 🦸
But here is where my first-person skepticism kicks in. Does Disney Plus really need a Marvel Rivals section when Marvel already has its own dedicated area on the platform? I asked myself that, and then I remembered something important: not every MCU character is on the Rivals roster yet. Surprising, I know, considering how many heroes and villains the game already has. The new section is not just a marketing gimmick. It is a bridge between the streaming audience and the live-service game, and it works because the overlap is huge.
Take She-Hulk. She qualifies for the wider Marvel section on Disney Plus, but she has not made it into Rivals yet. You could argue that regular Hulk makes a cameo in her show, so technically She-Hulk features a character from Rivals. But that feels like a stretch to me. I would rather see Jennifer Walters herself smashing through a wall and using her ultimate. Captain Marvel, Eternals, The Marvels, and Agatha All Along are other MCU projects you will not find under the new Marvel Rivals section. That gap tells a story: Rivals is still growing, and Disney Plus is already treating it like a franchise hub.
Here is a quick breakdown I put together from the reports and my own browsing:
| MCU project | In the Marvel Rivals section? | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness | ✅ Yes | Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, and America Chavez-adjacent chaos fit the game's multiverse vibe. |
| Thor: Ragnarok | ✅ Yes | Thor, Loki, Hulk, and Valkyrie are all playable or heavily requested. |
| Captain America: Civil War | ✅ Yes | The closest thing to a live Rivals match in the MCU. |
| She-Hulk | ❌ Not yet | She-Hulk is not in Rivals, and a Hulk cameo is not enough for me. |
| Captain Marvel | ❌ Not yet | Carol Danvers is a glaring omission from the roster and the section. |
| Eternals | ❌ Not yet | The ensemble could work, but Rivals has not tapped them yet. |
| The Marvels | ❌ Not yet | Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau would be fun additions. |
| Agatha All Along | ❌ Not yet | Agatha Harkness would make a wicked strategist or support. |
That table also answers another question I keep asking: how many of these projects actually show the characters using their ults? Not enough. I want to see Thor drop his ultimate, Iron Man fire his unibeam, and Doctor Strange portal the entire enemy team into oblivion. The Disney Plus section is a nice nod, but I need more cinematic ult moments. 😅
Two months in, Rivals was already popular enough to infiltrate areas beyond the video game world. The Disney Plus section is one example. The game also got its own Funko Pops. Doctor Doom, Magneto, Iron Man, and a super-size Galacta were revealed around that time. I remember thinking, 'Of course Galacta is super-size. She is literally a cosmic entity.' You can almost guarantee there will be more to come, and in 2026, there are. My shelf is not ready. 🧸
As for the game itself, players still had two more new characters to look forward to in that season. Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman kicked things off, and they were joined by Human Torch and The Thing at some point very soon. The Rivals devs also committed to releasing a new character every month and a half beyond that. A lot of upcoming additions were potentially leaked, and I spent way too many nights reading those leaks. By 2026, that cadence has reshaped the meta multiple times. I now ask myself before every patch: is my main still viable, or is a new duelist about to ruin my ranked climb?
What does this mean for the future? I think Marvel Rivals has proven that a video game can become the center of a multimedia universe. Disney Plus is not just streaming movies anymore. It is streaming a gateway drug for a hero shooter. The new section is a small UI change, but it signals something bigger: Marvel knows where its audience is, and it is willing to follow them into the game. I will be there, queueing up, checking the new section, and wondering which MCU film will get the Rivals treatment next. Maybe She-Hulk will finally get her due. Maybe Captain Marvel will arrive with a cosmic ult that breaks the map. Until then, I will keep playing, keep writing, and keep asking: if Rivals can take over Disney Plus, what can't it take over? 🎬