The growing Marvel Rivals community got its first detailed look at one of the game’s maps this week with Marvel and NetEaser revealing a trailer for Yggsgard. Described as a mashup between Asgard and the Yggdrasill itself, this first Marvel Rivals map is under the control of Loki and is filled with structures and symbolism Marvel fans would see in Asgard in the comics and movies. The map reveal comes just a few weeks before the first Marvel Rivals playtest gets underway with the closed alpha scheduled to start in May.
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Marvel Rivals has already been compared to Overwatch 2 thanks to its hero shooter setup, so it follows suit that the first map reveal would look like how we see some of those Overwatch 2 maps revealed as well. The trailer below offers a flythrough of Yggsgard to show off some off the different halls and open areas players will fight through in the game’s 6v6 mode and whatever modes come after that.
“After the Timestream Entanglement, Asgard fused with Yggdrasill, the World Tree that connects all Ten Realms,” an overview of the new Yggsgard map explained. Now Loki, the God of Mischief, uses his tricks to seize control and build his new kingdom: Yggsgard in Marvel Rivals!”
Loki himself is one of several Marvel characters that have been confirmed for the Marvel Rivals roster which includes a mix of heroes and villains. Other Marvel characters known to be in the game are Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Groot, Hulk, Iron Man, Luna Snow, Magik, Magneto, Mantis, Namor, Peni Parker, Rocket Raccoon, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, Storm, Star-Lord, and The Punisher.
Eagle-eyed Marvel fans may have spotted another character in this trailer, however. Danny Koo, the senior director working on Marvel Rivals, said in the game’s Discord that the map itself was full of Easter eggs, and one of those can be seen around 14 seconds into the trailer wherein a portrait of Hela is shown to the left of the room.
You could argue that that’s just clever worldbuilding for a map like Yggsgard, but it’s worth recalling that this technically isn’t the first time that we’ve seen this map shown off. Prior to today’s trailer, a different version of the Yggsgard map was shown off prematurely before being taken down by the Marvel Rivals team, but not before it could be hosted elsewhere on social media. At the end of that trailer, there’s a focus on this exact same Hela design which sure looks like it’s a tease that Hela might end up being a playable character, too.
Galacta is also in the game, though not as a playable character. Given that the closed alpha hasn’t even happened yet, expect more reveals be they characters, maps, or otherwise to happen between now and May.
