Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls reveals Phoenix Cyclops as first Year 1 DLC character, open beta now live

Arc System Works revealed Phoenix Cyclops as the first post-launch DLC fighter for Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls during a San Diego Comic-Con 2026 panel, alongside the game's opening movie. The full game launches on PS5 and PC on August 6, and a free open beta is running right now through July 27th.

Phoenix Cyclops is based on Cyclops' Phoenix Five incarnation from the Avengers vs. X-Men comics — Scott Summers wielding the fiery cosmic power of the Phoenix Force. Ray Chase voices the character in English, the same actor who plays Cyclops in Marvel Rivals and the Disney+ series X-Men '97. His moveset combines powerful Optic Blasts and close-range hand-to-hand combat with Phoenix Force abilities. Producer Takeshi Yamanaka teased on the PlayStation Blog that more details on how those abilities translate into gameplay are still coming. Phoenix Cyclops is the first of four characters in the Year 1 DLC wave, which also includes one new stage and a set of result screen poses — all arriving in fall 2026. The Year 1 content is bundled into the game's Ultimate Edition, which also packs alternate chromatic skins and cosmetics for the explorable lobby.

The opening movie, made by Japanese animation studio Sanzigen under director Daisuke Suzuki, was designed to evoke classic fighting games and early 2000s anime openings. The accompanying track, Stronger as One, hit streaming platforms the same night. Arc System Works is best known for the Guilty Gear and Dragon Ball FighterZ series, and Marvel Tōkon marks the studio's first major Marvel collaboration — a 4v4 tag team fighter with a roster of 20 characters at launch.

The open beta runs until July 27th (11:59PM PT / 7:59AM BST) and requires no registration or PlayStation Plus subscription, though a PlayStation account is mandatory. Fifteen of the 20 launch fighters are playable across six stages, including Blade, Iron Man, Black Panther, and Magneto. Players can also dip into the first three chapters of the Episode Mode's Amazing Guardians storyline. One ongoing sore point: the Steam version of the game remains unavailable in a large number of countries, reportedly over 100, due to the PlayStation account requirement.