MultiVersusSeason 1 is finally here. Not every feature of the first official Season is available right away, but Player First Games and Warner Bros. Interactive clearly have quite the roadmap in mind. Aside from Ranked’s long-awaited arrival, Season 1 will reportedly feature a lot of new characters for fans to master. Morty Smith ofRick & Mortyfame will join the game on August 23rd, and Rick Sanchez is on the way too. Player First Games also revealed a couple of other remarkable additions to the game. The DC antihero Black Adam is on the way, as is another antagonistic character named Stripe.
MultiVersusrumors have long suggested that Black Adam was on the way, and his inclusion makes sense, given that the game already has strong ties to DC properties. Stripe, however, is a little more surprising. Fans of the 1984 movieGremlinswill remember Stripe as the most mischievous and dangerous of the movie’s mogwai characters, serving as the main antagonist.Gremlinsis certainly a famous film in Warner Bros. catalogue, known for making an impact on the American film industry, but Stripe’s journey in theGremlinscanon and the current state ofMultiVersusmake him a remarkable character to include nonetheless.
RELATED:MultiVersus Needs a Stage Like Hyrule Temple
Stripe, Gremlins, and the MultiVersus Roster
Inthe firstGremlinsmovie, Stripe comes to life when water is spilled on the original mogwai, Gizmo, for the first time. Once Stripe connives to get fed after midnight, he transforms into his iconic gremlin form, and from there he wreaks havoc on the movie’s town. Stripe’s journey comes to an end when Gizmo exposes him to daylight, which kills him, and although theGremlinssequel features a “reincarnation” called Mohawk, the latter character isn’t quite the same as the cunning Stripe. While Stripe may not be a long-lived villain in the WB library, he is a memorable one.
Stripe seems like a great addition to theMultiVersusroster for a few reasons. For one, he’s a villain;MultiVersusis a little short on villains right now, aside fromHarley Quinn, but Stripe and Black Adam ought to shore up the game’s representation by a good margin. For another, Stripe brings an entirely new IP toMultiVersus.Warner Bros. Interactive clearly isn’t content to rely on its cartoon and comic book properties to populate the game. Instead,MultiVersusseems interested in tapping into WB’s film franchises, which opens the door for a ton of characters. Stripe may lend some credence to longstanding rumors that Godzilla is on the way, for instance.
HowMultiVersushandlesGremlinscanon also seems important. Stripe is very much dead in these films, after all, unless futureGremlinsmedia finds a way to bring him back to life.MultiVersusmay simply ignore this information; the fighting game doesn’t have any impact on the involved franchises' lore, so it could just wave away the fact that Stripe has been brought into the fray across time and space. However, if newMultiVersuslore specifically establishes that this Stripe comes from a differentGremlinstimeline, thenMultiVersuscould lay the groundwork for more parallel canons. Player First Games could eventually go as far as creating original variants on DC superheroes,Cartoon Networkstars, and more.
Overall, Stripe’s impact onMultiVersusis hard to predict at the moment, since Player First Games hasn’t clued fans in on Stripe’s moveset yet. As a small and lightweight character with an aggressive demeanor, it wouldn’t be surprising if Stripe belonged to theMultiVersusAssassin class, but anything is possible for now. Whatever becomes of Stripe, however, he is at least a promising sign that Player First Games and Warner Bros. Interactive want to represent a wide range of media in the fighting game. IfGremlinscan make it intoMultiVersus, then so can plenty of other iconic movies.
MultiVersusis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE:MultiVersus Could Have a Lot of Fun With Rick and Morty Content
