Marvel Rivals Season 9.5 Release Date: The Hood Arrives

Marvel Rivals Season 9.5 launches August 7, 2026, around 3 AM PT and runs until September 11, 2026. The Marvel Rivals Season 9.5 release date ends the four week run of Season 9.0 and drags the roster into round two of “The Mystery of Thebes,” whether you’re ready or not.

The star of this Marvel Rivals new hero drop is The Hood, joining as a Vanguard who somehow fights with twin pistols instead of a fist through your skull. Yes, a ranged tank. The role finally learns to poke instead of just eating cooldowns for a living.

Release Schedule

Event	Date
Season 9.0 start	July 10, 2026
Season 9.5 start	August 7, 2026, roughly 3 AM PT
Season 9.5 end	September 11, 2026

NetEase has not bothered publishing an official minute by minute breakdown for the Marvel Rivals mid season update, so treat the exact hour as a polite suggestion rather than a promise.

The Hood: New Vanguard

The Hood Marvel Rivals arrival is the headline of this patch, and he brings something the Vanguard role has never had before: range. Every prior tank wanted to be in your face; this one wants to be irritating from a distance, which is somehow worse.

• The Hood fights with twin pistols, making him the first ranged option the Marvel Rivals Vanguard lineup has ever seen.
• WWE star Damian Priest has teased that he voices the character, so expect a finishing move disguised as an ultimate.
• A Jubilee team up has already been teased and Magik’s synergy is reportedly not bad either.
• His full kit is still unconfirmed, meaning the forums will spend three weeks arguing about numbers that do not exist yet.

The heroes that counter the new picks matter more than the new picks themselves, so learn the answers before the rest of the lobby does and enjoy watching them cry about it.

Season 9 Context

Season 9, subtitled “The Mystery of Thebes,” began July 10, 2026 and already added Jubilee as a Strategist, alongside a Black Widow rework and a full Team-Ups overhaul. Every hero now gets two Team-Up abilities to toggle between, usable even without the partner present, which is either generous design or an admission the old system was a mess.

The Marvel Rivals Thebes map leans on an ancient Egypt theme tied to Apocalypse and his Horsemen, wrapping the season’s cosmetics and lore around the “Death of Apocalypse” storyline. Gorr is rumored to show up too, since he is apparently the one who hired The Hood in the first place.

What Else to Expect

Beyond the new Marvel Rivals Vanguard, the mid season patch traditionally ships a balance pass, and Cloak and Dagger’s ice team up ability is a likely target for tuning. Venom and Penny Parker could also see adjustments, though none of this is confirmed until the actual Marvel Rivals patch notes drop.

The season runs alongside the Faith-Harvesting Engine Marvel Rivals battle pass, a twelve page pass where the Luxury Upgrade costs 990 Lattice, a price tag that exists solely to make you feel something.

Roadmap Reliability

The full Marvel Rivals roadmap for 9.5 stays thin on detail beyond The Hood, and NetEase says the rest surfaces closer to launch. Given the studio’s track record, that likely means a surprise announcement the night before everyone already expected it.

• New cosmetics and mid season events roll out alongside the update.
• The in-game roadmap is more reliable than any leak thread circulating right now.
• Every unconfirmed detail should be treated as exactly that until NetEase says otherwise.