The second half of Marvel Rivals first season kicked off on Feb. 21, bringing with it two new characters Fantastic Four mainstays Human Torch and the Thing as well as a third New York City map that turns a popular Moon Knight meme into an official part of the competitive shooters lore.If youre playing as Moon Knight on the Convergence map Empire of Eternal Night: Central Park, theres a chance youll hear him refer to Dracula the big bad of Marvel Rivals season 1, and a major fixture in the stage itself as a bloodsuckin nerd who owes me big. Further into the match, Moon Knight may even call out to the vampire with taunts like Time for Dracula to pay up! and I know youre here, Dracula! While this might seem like a reference to some longstanding comic book feud, Moon Knights hatred for Dracula was actually born in memes.As Polygon senior entertainment writer Susana Polo previously explained when the Moon Knight television show was in full swing, the disassociating anti-heros portrayal as a Dracula-hating debt collector has no real comic book basis. Rather, a fan edited a single panel from a 1988 issue of Solo Avengers to depict Moon Knight calling Dracula a big fucking nerd and demanding my goddamn money and posted it to a Facebook group in 2018. Since then, this absurd meme has been the most prevalent if not entirely accurate example of Moon Knights characterization online, thanks to his mainstream obscurity as well as the images inherent humor and shareability.Since Marvel Rivals exists in its own narrative continuity, the NetEase developers who havent been let go obviously have some freedom as to how they use Marvels iconic heroes and villains in the games storylines. Sometimes that privilege will result in serious worldbuilding. But as the Moon Knight situation indicates, sometimes its just an excuse to reference a seven-year-old internet gag.