Storm's new Sacred Skies swimsuit had barely arrived in Marvel Rivals before the team announced a free Legendary upgrade. The costume launched on August 13 as an Epic skin priced at $16, drawing an immediate backlash from players who felt one of Marvel's most recognizable X-Men had received a thinner package than the other women in the summer lineup.
The response is more than a label change. Marvel Rivals says Sacred Skies will receive a new lobby animation, an updated MVP animation, and a free Ultimate effect in a future update. The price will stay at $16 for anyone who buys it before or after the upgrade.
What the free Legendary upgrade includes
Marvel Rivals has confirmed three additions for Sacred Skies:
- A new lobby animation.
- An updated MVP animation.
- A new Ultimate visual effect at no extra charge.
The studio has not given the upgrade a release date, so the current store version should not be mistaken for the finished Legendary package. Its statement only says the work is coming in the near future and asks players to be patient while the new pieces are made.
There is no extra tier or second purchase to worry about. The unusual part of this response is that an Epic-priced costume is being expanded after release without its $16 price moving with it.
Why the original Epic skin caused such a strong reaction
Sacred Skies is based on Storm's appearance in Marvel Swimsuit Special (1995) #4. The trailer shows her in a yellow swimsuit with a jeweled crown and her white hair flowing behind her, so the problem was not that the costume had no connection to the character's comic history.
The argument centered on what came with it. Players compared Storm's Epic costume with the Legendary summer skins made for Magik and Scarlet Witch. Community discussions repeatedly pointed out that Storm was the only woman in that group receiving the lower rarity, along with shorter presentation work and no unique Ultimate effect at launch.
In Marvel Rivals, the rarity label also sets expectations about presentation. Legendary costumes normally come with more elaborate lobby and MVP animations plus wider visual changes, while Epic skins carry a lighter feature set. Sacred Skies arrived looking and behaving like the lower tier, so simply changing the badge would not have answered the complaint.
Some fans also connected the decision to a broader complaint that Storm and other Black heroes receive less cosmetic attention. That is a criticism from the community, not a finding the developer accepted in its statement. Marvel Rivals responded to the feedback by changing the product, but it did not address those accusations directly.
Criticism and harassment are not the same thing
The announcement also says members of the development and moderation teams were harassed during the backlash. Marvel Rivals called that behavior unacceptable while acknowledging that players were passionate about Storm's costume options.
Those two points can sit together. Fans can question why Storm received a cheaper-looking package than comparable characters, and the studio can improve it, without individual workers becoming targets. The free upgrade answers the product complaint. It does not make harassment part of the process players should celebrate or repeat.
Storm is promised more Legendary costumes this year
Sacred Skies will not be Storm's only attempt at a higher-tier look. Marvel Rivals says more Legendary costumes for her are planned over the rest of 2026, although it has not shown their designs or shared a schedule.
Players returning for the skin may also want to check how Storm fits into the current roster through our Marvel Rivals Season 9 team-up tier list. Her costume may be the headline today, but the useful question after the store page closes is whether she feels worth putting back into a team.
For now, Sacred Skies is a $16 Epic costume with a confirmed upgrade attached to it. Buyers know what the finished package is supposed to contain; what they still do not have is the date when those Legendary features will actually appear.
