Marvel Rivals Artwork Includes Nightcrawler Tease And A Rogue Bat Symbol

Marvel Rivals Fans Are So Obsessed With Batman That They Missed An Actual Teaser Published Oct 8, 2026, 7:31 AM EDT Josh Coulson is an editor at TheGamer covering breaking news on everything from colorful platformers to the latest Lego sets. Primarily a news writer since 2018, Josh has covered just about every major game from the past decade. Now an editor, their focus has shifted to being the leading affiliate expert at the site, building relationships between TheGamer and global brands including Mattel, Funko, and The Pokemon Company. Sign in to your TheGamer account Marvel Rivals players have been expecting Nightcrawler to show up for a while. A new gallery card added to Rivals all but confirms he’s coming, but a far tinier detail than the one potentially teasing Nightcrawler’s arrival has somewhat overshadowed the overt teaser for the teleporting X-Man. That Looks Like The Hopesword In Marvel Rivals' New Artwork NetEase The artwork featured on Rivals’ new gallery card centers around Moon Girl wielding an impressive-looking sword. Moon Girl doesn’t have a sword in her arsenal, nor does the weapon look like it belongs to anyone else currently on the playable Rivals roster. That means it is likely teasing an upcoming addition to the game, and the most logical explanation is that the sword belongs to Nightcrawler. Although not typically associated with swords, the one in Moon Girl’s hand looks a lot like the Hopesword, a powerful sword the mutant uses in some of the comics that has a strong connection to Magik, who is already in Marvel Rivals - more on that unique bond in a second. Even though the potential Nightcrawler tease couldn’t be more overt, it’s a far smaller detail in the new artwork that many players have chosen to focus on. If you look closely at the document on the table, you’ll see a scrap of paper poking out of it with a symbol that looks suspiciously like the one Batman proudly wears on his chest. Batman In Marvel Rivals? That has led to many jokingly suggesting Marvel has somehow convinced DC to let it have its most famous character crossover and do battle alongside its own heroes in Marvel Rivals, with a few overly optimistic fans believing something like that could actually happen. It won’t, but that hasn’t stopped the symbol taking away from the fact that there’s a big glowing Nightcrawler tease right behind it. I do think that symbol is teasing something for Rivals’ far-flung future. My educated guess at this stage would be that is isn’t a bat symbol, but a crude sketch of Green Goblin’s glider. As for how Nightcrawler is tied to Magik, the origins of the Hopesword are rooted in how Nightcrawler saved his fellow mutant’s Soulsword from falling into the hands of demons. Nightcrawler hid the Soulsword in his soul, and when it returned to Magik, it took a piece of his soul along with it. The gap left in Nightcrawler’s soul was filled by the Hopesword. That manifested into a weapon Nightcrawler was then able to use in certain comic book runs. Not just a weapon that could be used as a traditional sword, but one with the power to heal broken memories and remove deadly viruses. Potentially an incredibly powerful weapon that’s about to enter the Rivals fray if that really is the Hopesword in Moon Girl’s hand. Released December 6, 2024 ESRB T For Teen // Violence Developer(s) NetEase Games Publisher(s) NetEase Games Engine Unreal Engine 5 Genre(s) Third-Person Shooter, Action, Multiplayer