Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls just delivered the chaotic tag-fighter we’ve waited a decade for

The trailer for the final launch team in Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls just dropped at EVO 2026, and it is a masterclass in kinetic, cel-shaded chaos. We are looking at Robbie Reyes’ Ghost Rider, Loki, Deadpool, and Blade moving with the unmistakable, frame-perfect aggression of an Arc System Works fighter. Dubbed the "Samurai Outriders," this four-character reveal is the exact jolt of adrenaline the competitive fighting game community has been holding its breath for.

It has been nearly a decade since Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite quietly closed the book on prominent Marvel fighters in 2017. Since then, the dream of a top-tier, competitive Marvel tag game has felt stranded in the past. Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is Sony and Marvel Games handing the keys to the genre's current reigning champions. Arc System Works taking their 2.5D anime-inspired mastery and applying it to a starting roster of 20 Marvel icons is one of those pitch-meeting ideas that sounds too miraculous to actually survive development. Today’s footage proves it is very real, and very loud.

The brilliance of the new trailer isn't just the sheer visual impact of the roster; it is the rhythm of the fights. This is a 4v4 tag system with a brilliant structural wild card: players unlock their full lineup dynamically during the match. It is a mechanic practically engineered to generate the kind of screen-filling, momentum-swinging comebacks that define Sunday night tournament finals. Watching Blade—who will be playable in the cross-platform open beta running from July 24 to 26—cleave through the screen alongside Loki highlights exactly what Arc System Works does best. They build characters that feel completely overpowered, and then pit them against each other.

The runway from here is aggressively, beautifully short. Instead of a grueling multi-year drip-feed of cinematic teasers, the open beta for PS5 and PC is less than a month away, leading straight into the August 6 worldwide release. The developers have clearly been taking notes from earlier closed sessions, actively engaging with the community to ensure the casual and ranked online multiplayer modes feel airtight before the masses flood the servers.

Fighting games thrive on a very specific type of manic energy—a delicate balance of deep technical mastery and absolute on-screen absurdity. The Samurai Outriders reveal confirms that Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls fundamentally understands the assignment. The decade-long drought is over. We are finally getting another great Marvel fighter, and it is in exactly the right hands.