The Hood is the new hero landing in Marvel Rivals with the Season 9.5 update, and he breaks the usual pattern by joining as a Vanguard instead of a Duelist. Parker Robbins fights up close with twin pistols, shields his teammates using a cursed cloak, and can twist into a demonic gun-turret for his ultimate. He is the 53rd hero on the roster.
Quick answer: The Hood goes live as a playable Vanguard when Marvel Rivals Season 9.5 launches on Friday, August 7, 2026.
The Hood is a Vanguard, not a Duelist
Even though The Hood carries dual guns and plays aggressively, his official role is Vanguard, the game’s tank class. That gives the tank roster its first true gunslinger. He is described as a dynamic gunner who moves between two states, an ordinary human mobster and a demonic powerhouse, switching forms as a fight goes on.
In human form, Parker lays down steady frontal fire with his twin pistols while using his mystical cloak to support allies. As his Demonic Energy climbs to a critical point, his inner demon bleeds through and he enters a half-demon state, turning his arms into rapid-fire demonic rifles.
The Hood is voiced by WWE wrestler and New York native Damian Priest.
The Hood’s full ability kit in Season 9.5
His kit leans on his guns first, then layers in shields, dark magic, and the demon transformation. The table below breaks down what each part of his kit does.
| Ability | Effect |
|---|---|
| Twin pistols | Hitscan frontal cover fire that pierces enemy shields. |
| Oblivion Cloak shields | Channels the energy of Oblivion to create protective bubbles for allies. A self-cast bubble can tank the damage of Namor’s Ultimate. |
| Dark magic orbs | Thrown orbs warp into a deployable barrier that blinds enemies passing through it and saps incoming enemy fire. |
| Half-demon state | Triggered when Demonic Energy hits critical. His arms become rapid-fire demonic rifles. |
| Ultimate (Full Demon State) | Mutates into a turret-like Gun Demon firing high-impact piercing rounds that punch through shields and enemies, while granting bonus health to nearby allies. |
The ultimate can be used mid-air when paired with his movement ability, letting you drop a floating turret above a fight. The gameplay reveal showed him piercing shields, blinding enemies through a barrier, and using the Full Demon State to wipe out foes.
When The Hood unlocks
The Hood becomes playable with the Season 9.5 update on Friday, August 7, 2026. You will know it worked once the update finishes downloading and he appears as a selectable Vanguard in the hero roster. Full balance changes, including hero buffs and nerfs, arrive alongside the same patch.
Note: The Season 9.5 download is larger than a typical update because it repackages the game’s assets, so expect a bigger install than usual before the game shrinks in size.
Season 9.5 shrinks the game’s file size
The headline change beyond the new hero is a texture compression overhaul that cuts how much storage Marvel Rivals takes up. The reduction lands without dropping visual quality, and it varies by platform.
| Platform | Storage reduction |
|---|---|
| PC | Around 40 GB |
| PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S | Around 15 GB |
Once the larger update finishes, the game’s total footprint on your drive drops by those amounts.
More summer swimsuit skins and returning events
Season 9.5 keeps the summer theme going with a second wave of Swimsuit Special skins hitting the store. The following heroes are getting new swimsuits, arriving August 13.
- Star-Lord
- The Winter Soldier
- Scarlet Witch
- Black Cat
- Storm
- Magik
Lady Loki’s swimsuit skin also gets new, customizable movement and ability animations, and the Krakoan Reels event returns for a second volume as the Summer Festival winds down.
The Hood’s arrival caps off a stretch where the Vanguard line finally gets a hero built around guns and dark magic rather than a shield, and the storage cut is the kind of quality-of-life fix players have been asking for since the game launched. Both land together on August 7.
