Marvel Rivals Mantis Actress Was Told Not to Use the MCU for Inspiration (Exclusive)

For many fans, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has offered definitive takes on many different characters. These takes have had a very large influence on how the characters are often depicted in other media, including comic books, cartoons, and video games. However, that’s not always the case. When creating Marvel Rivals, developer NetEase wanted a take on Mantis that was different from the version depicted by Pom Klementieff in the Guardians of the Galaxy films. In an interview with ComicBook, Mantis actress Colleen O’Shaughnessey talked about how she was told to come up with her own voice for the character.

“I’m a huge Marvel fan and I of course have seen all the movies. And they’re like ‘it’s not the same Mantis that you know from the movies.’ And so that was a little strange for me, because that’s the picture I have in my head and that’s the character that I have in my head. It was challenging to make her different, to just do my own take on Mantis. Luckily, they liked what I did. But I love the Marvel Universe so it was so exciting to be part of that,” said O’Shaughnessey.

While O’Shaughnessey is new to voicing Mantis, she has voiced a number of other Marvel characters throughout various media. Most notably, the actress provided the voice of the Wasp in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. In the years following that show’s conclusion, O’Shaughnessey would reprise the role of Janet Van Dyne across multiple video games, including Marvel Heroes and Disney Infinity. O’Shaughnessey says she isn’t much of a gamer herself (“Frogger, that’s more my speed”), but she’s still very happy about the positive reception Marvel Rivals has seen since launching late last year.

“The game is doing so well, it’s very exciting. And I get tweets or whatever, comments from people that are like ‘she’s a great character.’ I guess she’s sneaky or whatever. Somebody just sent me a thing the other [day], thanks to Mantis they got to some other level because of her,” O’Shaughnessey said with a laugh. “And I was like ‘great! Go you! You’re welcome!’”

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Mantis is one of several characters that were available at launch for Marvel Rivals. A Strategist, Mantis is best used by players that prefer to serve as healers. While the developers were looking to go in a different direction from the character’s MCU voice, it’s worth noting that Mantis features plenty of callbacks to the Guardians of the Galaxy films. Her backstory in the game has her imprisoned by the Collector, and players can purchase skins based on her appearances in those movies. The approach to the character’s voice might be different, but for those that prefer the MCU take to the 616, there’s still a lot of connective tissue.

Do you enjoy playing as Mantis in Marvel Rivals? What do you think of O’Shaughnessey’s take on the character? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!