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Marvel Rivals New Character Arrivals Won't Rely On MCU Release Schedules

This week, Marvel Rivals Season 3 will launch by adding Jean Grey aka Phoenix to the lineup, with Blade slated to arrive soon after. And while the new season is arriving in close proximity to The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the FF were already added to the game earlier this year. In the future, NetEase has plans to incorporate more content from the MCU and comics, while also ensuring that it doesn't interfere with the game's pre-planned storylines.

Marvel Rivals progression systems game director Guangyun Chen recently told Video Gamer that the game is "driven by its own universe and seasonal storylines" and that the seasons are planned out far ahead of time. He went on to explain that the dev team is developing new seasons in "a systemic manner" while also keeping an eye out for fresh additions from the films and comics.

"We are closely monitoring the release schedules of comics and movies, and we will incorporate relevant content when appropriate," said Chen. "However, this will not disrupt our own content development timeline."

After The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the next Marvel movie to hit theaters will be Spider-Man: Brand New Day on July 13, 2026. That seems far enough ahead to incorporate some Spidey-related characters, but it's also possible that NetEase may pull content from some of Marvel's TV shows on Disney+. Daredevil, for example, seems like he'd be a good fit for the game. NetEase also recently disclosed that it has the rights to include any character from the past eight decades of Marvel comics.

Season 3 of Marvel Rivals will begin on July 11.