New Blade Leak Reveals Potential Marvel Rivals Hero Release Plans
Using game datamines and leaks as fact is a dangerous game, and the Marvel Rivals community is learning that with the release of Season 1.
Following the first official trailer for Marvel Rivals Season 1: Eternal Night Falls, NetEase Games has reiterated its intention to bring the Fantastic Four to the game as playable characters. This means some of the earlier heroes datamined prior to any information on the F4 being found, such as Blade or Ultron, aren’t going to be released in the coming weeks—though there might be a reason for that.
Will Blade Be Featured in Marvel Rivals Season 1?
According to one of several prominent leak accounts on X, NetEase might be taking a story-centric approach to releasing certain heroes. For example, they theorize that because Dracula has captured Blade, he was excluded from Season 1’s release timeline even though vampires are a major theme.
That could open the door for Blade being a key reveal for Season 2, allowing him to join the game’s roster after canonically being freed via the game’s story progressing in the background. Likewise, there could be ways Ultron or other leaked heroes fit into the narrative, which will eventually lead to their seasonal launches.
From what the developers have said, Season 1 will be a “two in one” release featuring double the content of normal seasons, meaning getting four heroes is not likely to happen again and is a special treat because the Fantastic Four is involved. With the F4, two are being released at the start of Season 1, which will run for three months starting on Jan. 10, with the other two dropping six weeks later when the second half kicks off.
Related Article: Marvel Rivals Season 1 Balance Changes Leaked: Captain America, Hela, Hawkeye
With that in mind, Blade could be the first hero released for Season 2, with another leaked character such as Ultron then being added halfway through. We will have to wait for more news from NetEase, but it looks like the developers have a solid grasp on how they want the game’s story to expand the Chronoverse Saga and how to use hero releases as part of that strategy.
