FIFA 23 & Marvel link up with special FUT Heroes collaboration

Electronic Arts and Marvel Entertainment have teamed up to produce a range of FIFA Ultimate Team Heroes, which will be available to play in FIFA 23. Park Ji-sung, Yaya Toure and Landon Donovan are among the players involved, with the image on each card being created by Marvel's artists.

Each of the Heroes will receive a specially illustrated FUT item at the launch of the World Cup game mode, but base versions of each card will be available when FIFA 23 is released. In addition, a range of vanity items will be included in the game as part of the collaboration.

Anyone who pre-orders the EA Sports FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition by August 21, 2022, will receive a limited-time FIFA World Cup Hero Item.

Which players are getting FUT Heroes cards?

To start, five players received the FUT Heroes' treatment. Donovan has been christened The Brave, Park has been coined the TigerHeart and Toure is known as The Citadel.

In addition, former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho and Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio are also included in the collaboration.

The former Hero's name is The Anticipator, while Marchisio is now Il Principino.

Four more players have since been added. Former Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan is Sunstrike and is joined by ex-Brazil defender Lucio, now known as The Thunder.

Ex-Barcelona stars Rafa Marquez and Javier Mascherano have also been included. Marquez appears as El Kaiser and Mascherano is Octob-Boss.

EA Sports announced further updates on August 17 and 18, starting with the addition of former England and Liverpool striker Peter Crouch as The Robot.

Sweden legend Tomas Brolin is also in the mix as The Tornado, along with ex-Leeds winger Harry Kewell, known as the Wizard of Aus, and Sidney Govou - who has been aptly dubbed The Lion of Lyon.

The Acrobat comes in next, in the form of 1991 Ballon d'Or winner Jean-Pierre Papin, while cult Liverpool and Netherlands hero Dirk Kuyt has donned The Energizer costume.

Nigeria icon Jay-Jay Okocha, who also enjoyed an impressive spell in the Premier League at Bolton, has been included as Double Take, with Japan great Hidetoshi Nakata in as Stealth Agent and The Flying German moniker going to Rudi Voller - who helped his country win the World Cup back in 1990.

Saeed Al-Owairan, who scored one of the most famous World Cup goals of all time for Saudi Arabia against Belgium in 1994, swoops in next as The Emerald Falcon, followed by ex-Poland attacker Wlodzimierz Smolarek as Phase Shift.

Joan Capdevila is another World Cup winner being honoured as an FUT Hero, with the former Spain and Villarreal star named the Black Bull in the latest edition of the game.

When is FIFA 23 released?

FIFA 23 is scheduled for release on September 30, 2022, keeping up the tradition of bringing out the game on the last Friday of the month.

Players can get an early feel for the things via the Closed Beta, access to which ends on September 1, 2022.

How can I pre-order FIFA 23?

You can now pre-order FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition and receive a host of benefits when the game is released.

These include early access to the game, FIFA points and several valuable FUT assets to help bolster your team early on.