Image: NetEase Games
Marvel Rivals is getting new heroes at a rapid pace.
NetEase Games’ hero shooter Marvel Rivals is about to expand its roster very quickly over the next year. In an interview with Metro, the developer confirmed that it plans to add new heroes to the playable roster every month and a half. Each season of content launched for the game will be broken down into two halves, with new heroes launching in each half.
In Season 1, the game added a whopping four new heroes via the Fantastic Four.
Marvel Rivals confirms new heroes are coming at a fast pace
Marvel Rivals launched on December 5, 2024 with an impressive lineup of playable characters. 33 Marvel heroes and villains were available all in all, ranging from A-listers like Iron Man and Wolverine, to more obscure picks like Jeff the Land Shark and Squirrel Girl. However, it looks like this already-packed roster is set to expand even more over the next few months.
In an interview with Metro, game director Guangyun Chen discussed the rate at which Marvel Rivals plans to introduce new playable heroes. He said, “Every season, we'll be rolling out fresh seasonal stories, new maps, and new heroes. We'll actually be breaking down each season into two halves. The length of one season is three months. And for each half of the season, we will introduce a new hero."
This means that Marvel Rivals will get two new heroes per season at least, considering that Season 1 went above and beyond by introducing not just one, but two heroes in each of its halves. Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman were introduced in the season’s first half, while the Thing and the Human Torch are set to arrive in the second half.
With its planned two-heroes-per-season release cadence, Marvel Rivals could get eight new characters by the time January 2026 rolls around. Marvel Comics boasts plenty of characters for the game to adapt, so it’s not like NetEase is in danger of running out of ideas for the roster.
Still, one hopes that the game will continue to balance its current ratio of A-listers and obscure characters, as there are plenty of the latter left to unearth.
