Thanos enters Marvel Rivals during the back half of Season 10.5 as the enemy at the center of the Avengers: Endgame PvE mode. He is not a playable pick. He is the target that a full lobby of players has to bring down.
Quick answer: Thanos arrives on October 22, 2026, at 9 AM UTC as the boss of the Avengers: Endgame mode, part of the Path to Doomsday event.
Release time: October 22, 2026, 9:00 AM UTC
Thanos release status and date
The schedule is confirmed. Season 10.5 launches October 9; at 9 AM UTC on October 22, 2026, Thanos enters the game. He is the main boss in the cooperative Avengers: Endgame mode, included in the ongoing Path to Doomsday series.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Status | Confirmed |
| Release date | October 22, 2026 |
| Release time | 9 AM UTC |
| Mode | Avengers: Endgame (PvE) |
| Role | Boss, not playable |
How the Avengers: Endgame fight works
A force of 50 players takes on Thanos and his army simultaneously. Marvel Rivals creative director GuangGuang verified the mode’s player total. The fight unfolds among the wreckage of the Avengers Compound, where the film’s final battle takes place.
That player count makes it the largest PvE encounter the game has run. Earlier cooperative content was built for small squads, like the four-player Halloween Zombie Mode, so 50 against one marks a jump up to raid scale. The Thanos model follows his MCU design, Infinity Gauntlet included.
An earlier Ultron boss fight ran in the Avengers: Age of Ultron PvE mode, so the Endgame encounter is expected to play out as a similar large boss battle.
Season 10.5 schedule around the Thanos launch
Season 10.5 rolls out in stages through October instead of landing in one drop. Thanos sits in the October 22 wave.
| Date | Content |
|---|---|
| October 9, 2026 | Season 10.5 launch, Avengers: Infinity War 2v2 mode, Alchemax Headquarters map |
| October 15, 2026 | All Hallows’ Glow event and Halloween skins |
| October 22, 2026 | Avengers: Endgame mode with Thanos as boss |
| October 29, 2026 | Halloween Night of Illusions event |
Will Thanos be playable?
Players cannot use Thanos in Season 10.5. His role is limited to serving as Endgame’s boss, and NetEase Games has made no announcement about a later roster addition. A leaked character list suggests he could become playable in the future, but that remains unconfirmed.
Because Avengers: Endgame is a PvE mode, players cannot control Thanos as they could Loki in the earlier Avengers PvP mode. Some villains have moved from story appearances to playable roster slots, but Doctor Doom and Knull are still unplayable despite their major roles across the game’s narrative and modes. Thanos enters as an opponent in the same fashion; this appearance does not establish that he will become playable.
