Venom’s gonna throw it back in Marvel Rivals and there’s nothing any of us can do to stop him

Marvel Rivals has hit critical referential mass in a very Fortnitian (which is a word I just made up) way—see, being rooted in a long-standing comic franchise, and being a live service game, Marvel Rivals is incentivised to be self-referential with winks and nods to its own culture.

It just so happens that some of that culture involves, big, buff cheeks clapping. Shared here by leaker RivalsInfo, it appears as if Venom now has the ability to adopt a wide stance, brace his hands on his knees, and work that thing.

While Venom in Marvel Rivals is known for being a little, uh, caked up (honestly, it’s just equal-opportunity at this point. I’ve no problem with it) the dance actually seems to be referencing Thanos more than everyone’s favourite symbiote.

If you’re unfortunate enough to both exist on the internet and have eyes, you’re probably familiar with this clip of Thanos twerking. Which apparently also aired in an advert for a Mexican restaurant in 2019 because why not, who cares anymore?

While it’s not a sure thing, chances are this emote’ll be the “special April Fool’s Easter Egg gift” promised (or, perhaps now threatened) in the Galacta’s Cosmic Adventure patch announcement. If so, you’ll only have a few short days to grab your ability to make that symbiotic booty bounce (a phrase I hated writing just as much as you hated reading it) as the Easter egg’ll only be available from April 1 to April 4.

You might also want to snag the pick-up bundle that turns Venom into a Fanta-esque shade of orange, because who doesn’t want to strike fear into the heart of their enemies by diving into the backline, tethering everyone with orange tentacles, and then proceeding to shake it, bake it, booty quake it as a tangerine-coloured alien. You can snag it for around $3/£2.69, getting the Hyper Orange venom right away.