Marvel Rivals' character popularity reveals interesting gameplay trends. Data from the official website shows Jeff as the most popular character in quick play mode, outperforming Venom and Cloak & Dagger. However, competitive play reveals different favorites. On PC, Luna Snow, Cloak & Dagger, and Mantis lead, while on consoles, Cloak & Dagger, Penny Parker, and Mantis take the top spots.

Remarkably, Mantis, despite being the most popular competitive character across PC and consoles, also holds the unfortunate title of most defeated hero. Her dominance surpasses that of Hela, Loki, and Magic. Consoles saw a broader success, with 14 additional characters boasting win rates exceeding 50%.

Conversely, unpopular characters emerged. Storm, Black Widow, and Wolverine lagged in quick play, while Nemore occupied that position in competitive modes.

The game's recent surge in popularity, exceeding 500 mod downloads in a single month, has unfortunately sparked controversy. Nexus Mods' removal of modifications replacing Captain America's head with images of Donald Trump and Joe Biden ignited significant user backlash.

Nexus Mods' owner, TheDarkOne, addressed the situation in a private Reddit discussion, explaining the simultaneous removal of both modifications to avoid accusations of political bias. This action, however, has seemingly gone unreported by YouTube gaming channels.