Marvel Rivals Dev Vision Vol. 19 – Season 9 Preview

The latest Marvel Rivals Dev Vision Vol. 19 has revealed everything coming with Season 9: The Mystery of Thebes. Jubilee joins the roster as a new Strategist, Black Widow receives a complete rework, and the entire team-up system is being rebuilt with a new dual loadout structure. Season 9 launches on July 10, 2026.

Marvel Rivals Dev Vision Vol. 19

New Character in Marvel Rivals Season 9

Jubilee joins the roster as a Strategist. Check out her complete guide here.

Black Widow Rework

Black Widow is receiving a complete rework in Season 9. The ADS sniper mode has been removed from her standard state and her primary fire rate has been increased. Her charged electro plasma blast has moved from her ultimate into a standard ability, dealing damage and slowing enemies on hit.

Her new ultimate grants her an ADS sniper mode for a set duration or until a set number of bullets are fired. She still cannot one-shot on critical hits, but her sniper bullet hitbox has been significantly increased and bullets now pierce through enemies. Non-critical hits deal substantially higher damage with no falloff at range.

Her sprint and super jump remain with all stamina restrictions removed, and her spinning kick stays. A new ability has also been added: while airborne, Black Widow can launch toward a target location and slam into the ground, dealing AoE damage to nearby enemies.

Team-Up System Overhaul

Season 9 introduces a complete overhaul to the team-up system.

New Dual Loadout System

Every hero now has two independent team-up ability loadouts. Players select one before the match and can swap freely in the spawn room during a match. Each loadout has a base effect that is always active regardless of team composition, and an enhanced effect that only activates when the designated partner is in the match.

The team-up anchor mechanic from previous seasons has been completely removed alongside its associated flat buffs.

New Team-Up Abilities

• We will make a separate dedicated guide for this as there were a lot of announcements.

New System Changes

Ultimate Energy

Ultimate energy gain is being further reduced in Season 9 to account for the more intense team fights brought by the new team-up system. The developers note that the average time to earn an ultimate post-nerf will feel close to recent patches.

Regenerative Shields

A new shield type, Regenerative Shields, is being introduced for high-mobility flanking and diving heroes. They function identically to base health for all calculation purposes, meaning percentage-based healing and damage treat them as regular health.

If a hero avoids taking damage for five consecutive seconds, their Regenerative Shields automatically begin recharging to full capacity over the following five seconds. As an example, a hero with 300 Regenerative Shields will regain 60 per second during this window. The change aims to reduce how often these heroes depend on Strategist healing during solo angles and short duels, easing overall healing pressure on the support role.

New Map

A new convoy map "Thebes" launches following the July 23rd update. We will update this section with full details soon.

Path to Doomsday: Avengers Age of Ultron

Phase two of the Path to Doomsday event, Avengers: Age of Ultron, launches on July 30th. Players will battle Ultron and his mechanical army across Avengers Tower and Ultron's data space. A series of Times Square lobby events will also go live alongside this update.

Death of Apocalypse Detective Mini-Game

Season 9's story takes place in the collapsed timeline, where Apocalypse has been assassinated by a mysterious attacker. When the heroes arrive in Thebes to investigate, three more murders occur within their own ranks. An interactive detective mini-game, Death of Apocalypse, lets players work through the clues and uncover the truth themselves.

College Student Exclusive Rewards

A new collection of 10 costumes and MVP animations will be available for verified college student players. University students can verify with their education email to unlock these exclusive benefits.

Ignite Series Mid-Season Finals

The Marvel Rivals Ignite Series Mid-Season Finals take place from July 29th to August 1st in Los Angeles, USA. Ten teams from four major global regions will compete for the first world championship title of the competitive year.

Hero Balance Updates

Season 9 brings nerfs to Cyclops and Rocket Raccoon following their dominant performance in Season 8.5, while Thor, The Thing, Black Cat, and Storm are all receiving significant buffs. Roughly 80% of the hero roster is being adjusted this season. Full details will be available in the upcoming balance patch notes.