Marvel Rivals’ mid-season update sees the addition of Black Cat, a Dracula-inspired PvE mode, balance changes, and new cosmetics for the whole roster.
Marvel Rivals Season 7.5 Introduces Felicia Hardy, A Master Thief with Mystical Artifacts
Black Cat’s Out of the Bag, and Into the Marvel Rivals Roster
Marvel Rivals’ mid-season update, slated for release on April 17, is bringing a lot of new content to the hero shooter. The biggest new addition is Felicia Hardy, aka the Black Cat, as a new playable hero, and the "Blood Hunt" PvE mode, which releases later on April 23.
Black Cat joins the Marvel Rivals roster as a high mobility, agile Duelist that allows for expressive, skill-based gameplay through her many movement abilities and her Fortune mechanic. She will be voiced by Erica Lindbeck, reprising her role from the Insomniac Spider-Man games.
The Fortune mechanic sees Felicia sneakily stealing the currency from enemies to unlock new abilities. Felicia can also trade her hard-stolen Fortune with the extradimensional deity, The Gilded Saint, for rare magical artifacts she can use in combat as an enhanced ability.
While the details of all her artifact-based abilities are yet to be revealed, Black Cat’s trailer showed the usage of a few. This includes Doctor Strange’s Ring of Zona, which lets her and her team pass through walls, and Namor’s Mento-Fish, which creates a field that grounds opponents.
Marvel Rivals Promises the Next Chapter of PvE
Another major new addition to Marvel Rivals Season 7.5 is the upcoming PvE mode, "Blood Hunt." The new PvE mode sees players fighting a Norn Stone empowered Dracula and promises four new Boss battles, an overhauled traits and progression system, and a brand new loot system.
Creative Director Guangyun "Guangguang" Chen promises that this new Blood Hunt mode would be the "next chapter" of Marvel Rivals PvE, with more game modes on the way. In particular, the "Path to Doomsday" event will see new Avengers game modes added to Marvel Rivals until the release of Avengers: Doomsday this December.
The upcoming Path to Doomsday game mode will take initial inspiration from the first Avengers film, with the original 6 Avengers fighting against Loki in asymmetrical combat. It is expected that the game mode will change to be inspired by the following Avengers films, such as Age of Ultron, Infinity War, and Endgame, as Avengers: Doomsday approaches release.
This focus on PvE is looking to be part of Marvel Rivals’ growth from a hero shooter to a "comprehensive Marvel ‘moving anime’ experience." Chen noted in an interview that "The ‘Path to Doomsday’ is one of our primary thematic drivers for 2026," so more expansive integration between Marvel Rivals and the greater Marvel universe, from the main comic line to the Cinematic Universe, is entirely possible.
The Future of Marvel Rivals Looks Good, And The Heroes Do Too
The mid-season update for Marvel Rivals also adds a new selection of cosmetics and skins for the roster, including seasonal skins for Black Cat and Spider-Man, and this year’s Hellfire Gala outfits for Magik, Phoenix, Moon Knight, Emma Frost, and Gambit.
As the winner of last year’s Hellfire Gala community vote, Emma Frost’s Gala Star costume will be available for free to all players starting April 17. Another Hellfire Gala community vote will be held in the upcoming season, with the winner also receiving a free skin during next year’s event.
Balance-wise, Marvel Rivals’ Season 7.5 implements a widely-requested system mechanic that greatly changes the flow of gameplay during matches: Chain-CC Protection. This mechanic prevents players from being immobilized by crowd control or "CC" abilities such as Spider-Man’s Web Pull or Wolverine’s Feral Leap multiple times in a short duration, and is applied throughout the entire roster.
Characters throughout the roster have received modest balance changes, which is standard for Marvel Rivals’ mid-season updates, with meta-defining characters like The Winter Soldier, Elsa Bloodstone, and Vanguard Deadpool receiving nerfs and more niche heroes like Peni Parker and Ultron being buffed. Black Cat’s addition to the game also adds a new Team-Up, "Lucky Loan," where she enhances White Fox’s speed and healing and Captain America’s shield.
Marvel Rivals is out now for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. For more on Marvel’s multiversal multiplayer hero shooter, read our article here:
Sources:
Black Cat: The Master Thief| Character Reveal Trailer | Marvel Rivals
Marvel Rivals: Season 7.5 Begins // Dev Vision Vol. 16
Marvel Rivals will move “beyond standard 6v6 PvP” to become “a comprehensive Marvel moving anime experience” this year
