The Next ‘Marvel Rivals’ Update Will Feel the Fury of the Phoenix Force

Marvel Rivals might be moving on from Krakoa for its new season, but that doesn’t mean mutants are leaving the spotlight: Jean Grey is the latest X-Men superstar to join the game’s roster of playable characters in a new spacebound season, alongside the arrival of the long-awaited Blade.

Netease confirmed the theme for Rivals‘ third season in a new trailer released today, which will focus on Venom’s homeworld Klyntar and the rise of Knull, the creator of the symbiote race, as he transforms Hela into his “Queen in Black” in a bid to grow his influence across the cosmos. But of course, a vast cosmic being like the Phoenix Force doesn’t take too kindly to that sort of thing, and dispatches Jean Grey to the world to purify it in flame—with a little help from a vampiric ally.

Blade, while less of a surprise than Phoenix, is still a welcome addition to Rivals roster. The character has been teased as part of the lore in the game almost since launch, with background for Rivals‘ first season seeing Blade captured and imprisoned by Dracula himself during a vampiric invasion of New York. Blade was even viewable on a map added into the game, and while additional story releases eventually detailed his freedom, fans have had to wait a little while for him to finally take up arms and join the Rivals lineup.

Little is currently known about how Phoenix and Blade will play (the trailer teases at least that Jean will balance her fiery phoenix force abilities with her psychic powers as part of her kit), or how either character will fit into the game’s Vanguard-Strategist-Dualist role triangle. With Emma Frost and Ultron bulking up the Vanguard and Strategist casts, respectively, last season, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see both Phoenix and Blade grow the crew of damage-dealing duelists.

Phoenix and Blade’s arrivals herald a change to Rivals‘ approach to character and season launches that will now see the already-expansive cast of the game grow on a more regular basis. While the launch of the game and seasons one and two operated on three-month rotations, adding a new hero at the start and midway points (outside of season 1’s abnormal rollout of the entire Fantastic Four), starting with season three, the game will switch to a two-month seasonal length, releasing a new hero every month.

Season 3 of Marvel Rivals, “The Abyss Awakens,” is set to launch July 11. No doubt we’ll learn more about how Jean and Eric play soon.

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