Marvel Rivals Season 9 adds two new heroes tied to the X-Men villain Apocalypse. Jubilee, a mutant who fights with pyrotechnic energy blasts, joins as a Strategist at launch. The Hood arrives later as the season’s mid-season addition, closing out the roster expansion for the “The Mystery of Thebes” storyline.
Quick answer: Jubilee is playable when Season 9 goes live on July 10, 2026 at 09:00 UTC. The Hood is confirmed for the mid-season update, expected in early August.
Release time: July 10, 2026, 09:00 UTC (2:00 AM PDT / 5:00 AM EDT / 10:00 AM BST)
When each hero unlocks
The two heroes do not arrive together. Season 9 follows the game’s usual pattern of one hero at the season start and a second in the mid-season patch. Jubilee is the launch hero, making her the 52nd playable character in the game. The Hood comes next month.
| Hero | Role | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| Jubilee | Strategist | Season 9 launch, July 10, 2026 |
| The Hood | Vanguard (expected) | Mid-season update, early August |
Jubilee’s role and kit
Jubilee plays as a Strategist, the game’s support-focused class. Her fireworks are the core of her kit. She shapes radiant plasma into projectiles that heal teammates and damage enemies at the same time, so the same attacks that hurt opponents can also top off allies.
Her mobility comes from a jump that lets her briefly hover in the air to dodge incoming fire. While airborne, she can drop healing bubbles for her team. Her Ultimate is a wide crowd-control move that knocks back several enemies at once, which the reveal footage shows pushing opponents off the map to their deaths.
Note: Her design shares some visual DNA with the existing Strategist Luna Snow, but her explosive, high-damage projectiles set her apart from other supports.
The Hood’s expected role
The Hood, real name Parker Robbins, is confirmed as the second Season 9 hero and is set to debut in the mid-season update. His full kit has not been detailed, but he is widely expected to be an aggressive Vanguard tied to the Cloak of Oblivion.
Early details point to a combat style built around dual pistols and a sword, along with cloning abilities and a demonic transformation as his Ultimate. Treat his exact role and abilities as unconfirmed until the official patch notes for the mid-season update arrive.
How the heroes fit the Age of Apocalypse story
Season 9 is built around Apocalypse, the classic X-Men antagonist, in an arc set against an ancient Egypt backdrop. The season’s cinematic trailer opens with Apocalypse mid-monologue about his hunger for power before an unseen attacker impales him from behind with a sword.
Jubilee is drawn into his orbit as one of his horsemen, the Horseman of Famine. Her motivation is personal. Her son Shogo is trapped in his dragon form, and she turns to Apocalypse hoping he can help her save the boy. The Hood, by contrast, is positioned as a figure who ends up opposing Apocalypse after gaining the Cloak of Oblivion.
Thebes map and season timing
Season 9 also adds a new Convoy map called Thebes, built on an ancient Egypt theme that matches the season’s story. The map does not arrive on day one. It launches on July 23, roughly two weeks after the season begins.
| Content | Date |
|---|---|
| Season 9 launch (Jubilee playable) | July 10, 2026 |
| Thebes Convoy map | July 23, 2026 |
| The Hood | Early August (mid-season) |
How to play Jubilee at launch
Like every hero in the game, Jubilee is free for all players. Once Season 9 goes live and server maintenance finishes, she appears in the hero select screen under the Strategist role. Expect roughly two to three hours of maintenance around the 09:00 UTC rollout, so the login window is a little later than the listed update time.
You will know the season has switched over when Season 8.5 ends and the client updates to the new version. Jubilee becoming selectable in the roster confirms the patch installed correctly. If she is not visible, the update has not finished downloading or maintenance is still running.
With Jubilee anchoring the support line at launch and The Hood shaking up the Vanguard slot next month, Season 9 spreads its two additions across the summer rather than dropping both at once. Mark July 10 for Jubilee, July 23 for Thebes, and early August for The Hood.
