Marvel Rivals now lets you pet Jeff the Shark in an apparent attempt to make him look cute and not like the big dopey menace he'll be for the rest of his dumb life

Nothing will convince me Jeff the Shark, the murderous, stalking support hero from Marvel Rivals, is cute. Not the doe-eyed, slack-jawed expression he makes when he rips you to shreds, not his plump belly or flappy tail, not even the little collar and nametag around his neck, and most certainly not this new duo emote between him and Emma Frost, which also happens to be Rival's first ever duo emote period.

Whether you can pet [insert animal] is often a reliable benchmark for whether I'll like a game, but for once, adding this simple gesture isn't doing anything for me in the case of Marvel Rivals, and it's all because it's Jeff the freakin' Shark you can pet.

As first revealed by Marvel Rivals creator Miller Ross, the emote is available in the in-game shop now. According to Ross, only one of the two players involved needs to buy the emote to perform the cuddle, and once you do, you'll get to hear Jeff the Shark purr like a giant, aquatic kitten, which I loathe to admit is indeed pretty cute.

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This is likely just the start of duo emotes in Marvel Rivals, and joking aside, it's encouraging to hear heroes can sync up even if only one of them owns the emote. It would've been easy for NetEase to charge both players for duo emotes, and pending confirmation that they aren't, that's commendable.

I still don't like Jeff the Shark.

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