If she be worthy
Following the announcement of Phoenix Cyclops as the game's first DLC character back in July (who'll finally be joining the roster on November 2nd), Arc System Works have ripped the plaster off and revealed all the other new fighters set for Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls' Year One phase. Courtesy, by the by, of a beautiful illustration by Peach Momoko, the artist of 2024's unique Ultimate X-Men run.
Cyclops was an easy guess for DLC after not being in the base roster, but it was a surprise to see specifically his Phoenix Force-imbued version from 2012's Avengers vs. X-Men event: a Scott Summers who's remembered by many for his incredibly cool design and not much else (he optic blasted Professor X?!). There was speculation, then, that the rest of Year One would end up being 'slightly different' versions of classic characters, such as Flash Thompson's Agent Venom over Eddie Brock as Venom, both to bring something new to the table and also to avoid fighting game players inevitably saying "Oh yeah, it's [X] from Marvel vs Capcom."
That didn't pan out for Venom himself, though Year One's second character, Jane Foster, carries this idea (and Thor's hammer) forward, being more than just Thor Again. While most people's awareness of Jane is unfortunately derived from the very, very bad movie Thor: Love and Thunder, which is a fate I would not wish on any character, her time as Thor in the comics goes back to 2014 and has had a pretty good run through solo comics and crossovers. In Tōkon itself, Thor's absence from the Avengers team alongside Iron Man, Captain America and Hulk was notable, so this nicely ties up that loose end. Also, her theme is composed by Keiichi Okabe? Of NieR fame? What the fuck?
The final two characters of the pass, Venom and Jubilee, do break that notion of alternate versions of characters, with Venom seeming to be Eddie Brock (judging by his distinctively hulking form), and Jubilee being her classic, sparkly self. As much as I was silently hoping for Venom With Guns, I can never complain about Eddie making it into another fighting game; Carnage is great and all, but the lethal protector was sorely missed from the launch roster. Venom also comes with the game's first new stage, the symbiote homeworld Klyntar. Jubilee, on the other hand, is making her fighting game debut, having only ever appeared as a non-playable assist character in Marvel vs Capcom 1. Jubilation! I genuinely cannot wait to see how her personality and powerset is translated to a fighting game.
Year One will run through Summer 2027, with Jane releasing in Winter (probably January), Venom in Spring (probably May), and Jubilee in Summer (probably August). I've been through enough ArcSys release schedules to know that they'll push the meaning of those seasons as far as they can go.