Marvel Rivals is keeping its promise of continually adding heroes at a consistent rate, with the second season adding Emma Frost and Ultron to the expanding hero roster. NetEase has promised players that it will add a new hero every forty-five days, equating to a hero every half a season, and after the latest trailer, it is safe to assume that the studio is keeping its promises. The handling of the game has been exceptional this far, with NetEase listening to players throughout, even if this can lead to some unintended problems where competitive is concerned.

Still, after adding The Fantastic Four in its entirety last season, with a story and map focusing on New York and a vampire invasion led by Dracula himself, Season 2 will change the focus to something less gothic. Heroes and villains alike will get to dress in their Sunday Best for the Hellfire Gala in Krakoa, which is assumed to loosely be based on the 12-part comic series of the same name. It seems that Ultron will be the main antagonistic force of the season, and Ultron is also playable, a first for Marvel Rivals thus far.

Emma Frost And Ultron Are ing Marvel Rivals Next

And The Hellfire Gala Lets Skins Shine

NetEase showed off what is to come with a Season 2 trailer on YouTube in which Emma Frost invited mutants and heroes alike to Krakoa for the Hellfire Gala. There seem to be plenty of new skins for characters dres for the gala, with Captain America, Black Widow, Bruce Banner, and Black Panther arriving in style. Luna Snow and Cloak and Dagger show off outfits with a black and white motif, while Wolverine is in his suit from his Patch run back in 2022, which Hugh Jackman also wore in the Deadpool & Wolverine film.

The Hellfire Gala serves several purposes, including a state dinner, an election for new X-Men , a celebrity-packed party, and to show off mutant high fashion.

The trailer spends the first half on Emma Frost showing off the guests and proposing a toast, with an X motif everywhere, from the lights to her earrings. Some of the X-Men are shown in their classic outfits (namely Psylocke and Magik) before being attacked by Ultron and his drones. It seems the Season will focus on the battle for Krakoa, with Ultron wanting to turn the sentient island into some kind of machine and Emma Frost attempting to protect the island with her X-Men from the inorganic villain. Curiously, there do appear to be some changes from the comics.

Emma Frost says Cyclops' iconic line: "To me, my X-Men", and it could imply that she is the current leader of the team. Cyclops isn't in the game, so it would make some sense in his absence, given Emma Frost's prevalence as one of the team's central . She's the White Queen of the Hellfire Club and sometimes serves as the heistress of Xavier's school, so having a leader-like figure for the X-Men is a nice addition when so many of them are in Rivals. It's especially fitting when they're about to be pitted against a villain the magnitude of Ultron.

Marvel Rivals Needs More Vanguards & Strategists

Duelists Make Up The Biggest Percentage Of Characters

In a developer update, it was confirmed that Emma Frost will be a Vanguard, which makes sense given her diamond skin, although it does feel odd that Ultron is a Strategist, given how destructive he is in the comics. Still, Ultron will provide a unique playstyle by being the most mobile of the Strategists, able to fly around the battlefield like Iron Man. Having a Vanguard and Strategist addition to kick off Season 2 is brilliant for several reasons, one of which is to better balance the roster given all the Duelists in its ranks.

Emma Frost will at the start of the season, while Ultron will during the 2.5 update.

Duelist is the most popular class, so it makes sense that it has the most characters, but that doesn't mean Vanguard and Strategist mains should be left out. While Vanguard and Strategist only got one hero each last season (The Invisible Woman and The Thing), Duelists got two (or one and a half depending on who you ask) — Mr. Fantastic and The Human Torch. Adding a Vanguard and Strategist will help balance the books a bit, especially because many viable metas for competitive don't require a team to have more Duelists than any other class.

With triple Strategist being one of the more popular metas, Ultron will help with more variety, and being able to fly shakes up how divers will approach taking on s hiding in the back. Emma Frost will be Marvel Rivals' second female Vanguard, and unlike Peni Parker, she isn't hiding in a suit. Knowing what the Rivals fanbase is like, this could be what gets people to play more Vanguard and perhaps encourage people to play more than one class. For Vanguard mains, it's another option when the usual characters have been banned or heavily countered.

It's Better For Blade To Wait His Turn

He Will Likely Be A Duelist

Duelist already has enough variety as is, from those based around precise aim to mobile, combo-heavy characters that lurk in the back. While one-class players might not be happy to hear this, all three classes are vital to winning a game, and the ratio of characters for each class should probably be a bit more balanced. Sure, Duelist is the most popular, and should have the most characters, but that class is already miles ahead of the other two, with plenty of variety. Strategist is finally getting that variety in the form of Ultron's flight.

Still, many might be disappointed or surprised not to see Blade, considering his appearance on the Central Park map as a prisoner of Dracula. With the model already in the game, it wouldn't have been a surprise to include him, but he is probably going to be a Duelist, and it's better if he waits his turn for now. He's probably better off recovering from captivity than attending a gala anyway, and his current absence will give Vanguards and Strategist players something new, while making the character roster ratio less skewed toward Duelists.

More importantly, both Emma Frost and Ultron look great while maintaining their comic accuracy, something that NetEase has managed to handle well in character designs for Marvel Rivals. There couldn't be a Hellfire Gala without Emma Frost, since she is the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, and Ultron is the perfect villain for the season as a usual Avengers-level threat. Having the main seasonal villain playable in Marvel Rivals is a first too, and Ultron does feel like the perfect choice, given how familiar the average person is with his abilities after his MCU appearance.

Source: YouTube - Marvel Rivals