The Fantastic Four are joining Marvel Rivals' already sizable cast of playable characters when the multiplayer game's first full season begins. Developer NetEase made the announcement in a new trailer and revealed Jan. 10, 2025, as Marvel Rivals' Season 1 release date.
NetEase is also adding three new maps and a fresh game mode that addresses complaints of Rivals' being a bit too similar to those in Overwatch 2.
The Fantastic Four will be added to Marvel Rivals' roster in waves. Invisible Woman, a Strategist, and Mister Fantastic, a Duelist, join in the season's first half. The Thing and Human Torch, a Vanguard and another Duelist, respectively, make their debut in the second half, which is anticipated to begin around Feb. 21, 2025. NetEase still hasn't said how these heroes play in a match, though a brief trailer of Mister Fantastic showed him grabbing two opponents with his stretchy arms and slamming them together.
The Fantastic Four's inclusion is a bit of an open secret, since NetEase already teased the reveal in the official Marvel Rivals community Discord. The trailer's big surprise is that NetEase continues to make Rivals something of a playable Marvel history museum by adding Dracula as the season's new villain.
"Darkness engulfs New York as the Timestream Entanglement leaves Doctor Strange trapped in the Entangled Astral Plane, scattering the Darkhold pages," NetEase's description of the new season reads. "Dracula and Doctor Doom disrupt the moon's orbit, plunging the city into eternal night and unleashing an army of vampiric creatures. With the world on the brink, the Fantastic Four join forces with iconic Marvel heroes, standing together in the epic battle to break the mystical darkness with science."
Dracula, like Peni Parker and Squirrel Girl, occupies a small niche in the Marvel universe. He turned up infrequently in a handful of comic series over the last 70 years, first in the "Dracula Lives" short that debuted in 1951's "Suspense: Volume 1" collection, before re-emerging in the 1971 series "The Tomb of Dracula." More recently, the vampire lord made cameo appearances in Deadpool, Old Man Logan, and Captain Britain.
Like with Season 0's introductory story, Dracula's involvement in Marvel Rivals will unfold as a series of short comic book panels. They will unlock as players reach certain achievement milestones by completing missions during the season.
The Doctor Doom-themed Doom Match is Marvel Rivals' new game mode. It's a team-based deathmatch setup that divides eight to 12 players into factions and rewards points to individual players, not teams, for eliminations. When the round ends, Doom Match crowns the top 50 percent of players as the winners, regardless of faction.
NetEase didn't say which modes Marvel Rivals' new maps are for or whether Doom Match will re-use existing maps.
The last headline addition for Marvel Rivals Season 1 and beyond is Midnight Features. Midnight Features brings a new set of missions each season. Completing them unlocks a range of rewards, including new galleries, which is where Marvel Rivals' bespoke comics live. These rewards are separate from those in Marvel Rivals' battle pass and will expire at the end of each season.