So here’s another leak for Marvel Rivals. And now we get an early look at the MVP screen for Old Man Hawkeye skin, potentially again stirring up the community: at least, more than usual. Old Man Hawkeye looks grizzled and mature, but the real kicker is the background, where a playing card- the ace of spades- is sitting right on the bullseye of a target! From there, things started spiraling out of control.
Players immediately started screaming over the possible interpretations. Is it a Gambit tease? Or did it mean to allude to Bullseye? The comments section under the leak-tweet has pretty much turned into a virtual war zone full of theories and counterbits.
One user, @01_IDK_01, said, “not so subtle gambit teaser,” which is as good a point to make as any. Playing cards are kind of his whole thing. However, the theory had barely surfaced before it was kicked aside; @sabaybahabri replied, “no its bullseye.” Honestly, I think that makes more sense. Bullseye is the guy that throws playing cards as a weapon, hitting the bullseye is…well, you get it…Double pun, quite cool if that was NetEase’s intention.
So heated did things get that users started responding to each other in the thread with just “bullshit”. @TheBoss05186621 used that phrase in one thread: that’s how heated it got. But arguably, the best drawing came from @grayski33, who said, “The MVP is referencing Old Man Hawkeye fighting Old Man Bullseye.” Ohhhh. Yes. There’s a comic storyline about this. Old Man Hawkeye versus Old Man Bullseye. It’s a specific reference-not generic. That sounds way more plausible than some random Gambit tease.
Okay, back to what I was saying: that skin! Super sick! @cal0bgameplays said, “This skin is so ahh 😭🙏,” which I think we can all agree means it’s fire. The Old Man Hawkeye look from the comics is iconic, and bringing it into the game is really good. It’s got that grizzled, seen-too-much vibe that really suits a character like Clint Barton.
Amid all this Bullseye vs. Gambit madness, some players were simply begging for their favorite characters. @f33lingill commented, “netease give us daredevil and gambit mid szn 😭🙏🏼”. So the demand for Gambit is there, even if this particular tease probably ain’t for him. And according to @MaverickYVR, that hope might very likely come true soon: “Gambit and Rogue are leaked and hinted for next season, don’t worry. Should have Gambit by the end of the year.” So for all you X-Men fans, there’s some light at the end of the tunnel.
Now that’s an illustration showing how hyped up this is for Marvel Rivals. A single skin MVP screen image brings forth a lot of chatter and speculation. It speaks for the engagement of gamers with the lore and the minute detail; they could gaze at a skin, but they are disassembling every single bit of it looking for clues about what’s coming next. Looks like the developers want to bait the players with these sneaky teases.
Also, that’s a reminder that you’ve got loads of cool cosmetics here. Tying skins and MVP screens to specific comic moments is a really great way to reward fans that catch the subtlety. Getting a “Play of the Game” moment that nods to a classic storyline is an extremely satisfying pay-off. If there’s a few who don’t get it right off, those few will spark the entire community into conversation and further exploration of the Marvel universe.
Well, yeah, that Old Man Hawkeye skin is real, and its MVP screen directly points to his showdown with Bullseye. It’s a deep cut but a really cool one; while it might not be the Gambit announcement some were hoping for, it shows the devs have some real respect and knowledge of the source material. Meanwhile, we work on waiting, but hopefully that Bullseye release will sweeten the pot. That would be sooo dope.
