Marvel Rivals' X-Men Leaks Could Hint Toward A Big Seasonal Update

Marvel Rivals has had even more X-Men leaks for future releases, but could this amount mean something bigger? Rivals has hit the gaming world by storm and continues its massive success. After an extremely successful Season 0, Season 1 has been even better with quality-of-life updates and four new characters. However, new seasons after this will drop to two new characters.

Even though seasons will drop to two characters, that is still a massive upgrade over what other hero shooters do. To receive a new hero every month and a half is a huge deal, and will keep the game fresh along with all the other content. However, there is a good chance that Marvel Rivalswill switch things up and do a big update now and then.

More X-Men Join Marvel Rivals

Marvel's Mutants Join The Battle In Force

Marvel Rivals characters with comic art of Deadpool and Cyclops in front

To join the long list of already leaked Marvel Rivals characters, five more X-Men have been leaked: Gambit, Beast, Rogue, Jubilee, and Nightcrawler. Of these five, three of them have predicted roles in Gambit as a Duelist, Rogue as a Strategist, and Nightcrawler as a Duelist. These five are some of the most popular X-Men and would join the rest at the perfect time to capitalize on the popularity of X-Men '97.

Though not with specific details, some basic ideas of each character's kit have been found. Beast seems to be a mobile hero who will likely fill the Vanguard or Duelist slot. Nightcrawler appears to have different fighting styles while keeping his shifting abilities. Jubilee may revolve around her iconic energy blasts, while Rogue seems to have a kit based around copying other heroes, but likely to an extended level than what Loki can do. Lastly, Gambit seems to have abilities around his charged cards and cycles his energy control.

Already Confirmed X-Men For Marvel Rivals

Content Planned In Advance

A Marvel Rivals imagery with Ultron and Emma Frost.

Previously, numerous other members of the X-Men had been leaked to join the roster: Emma Frost, Jean Gray, Cyclops, Professor X, Locus, Colossus, Jia Jing, and though not an X-Men member, fellow mutant Deadpool. However, the only two with seemingly confirmed roles are Emma Frost as a Vanguard and Jean Gray as a Duelist. However, there are speculations about the others that can be made given their in-universe powers.

For example, someone like Colossus seems primed to join the Vanguard role with his amazing endurance. Meanwhile, someone like Cyclops is likely to be a Duelist, given that his powers are all focused on offensive tactics. It is fair to be hesitant with any predictions, as Rivals has subverted expectations with characters like Strange being a Vanguard or Loki being a Strategist. Regardless, given the creativeness of previous hero kits, all of these additions will likely spark excitement on release.

Could Marvel Rivals Have A Big X-Men Season?

Innovating A Genre

Even though the developers have said the standard season will only have two characters, with the growing list of leaked characters, there may be other plans. First, the studio may just be planning out long in advance given how quickly it plans to release characters. Live-service games like this can be demanding, so balancing new heroes, maps, modes, skins, and events, along with the hordes of other features, can be time-consuming, so having characters planned out in advance can lighten the work.

However, even with the two-per-season release plan, the list of over 20 leaked characters takes Rivals to its first anniversary and beyond. This also doesn't include any other characters yet to be leaked or the plethora of options it can still use from Marvel, which means the game could get another season similar to Season 1 or even bigger. This would occur either due to a need to revitalize the game, which seems like a long shot at this point, or to celebrate a big moment.

Given that more than half of the leaked characters are mutants, there could be a large X-Men-themed season coming. There are already rumors that Season 2 or Season 3's characters will include Emma Frost and Jean Gray, with the potential of Krakoa as a map. This could be the prelude to this season, though that doesn't mean it has to come right after that. Regardless, a season of this size would likely include four or more new X-Men playable heroes, along with a map or two that fit the theme.

A large season like this would be an unprecedented event for a live-service hero shooter, but that would be a good thing. Rivals have already done an amazing job of improving the genre, and even though too many characters can raise the bar for entry, given the popularity of Marvel's franchises, it is unlikely to become a major issue. Marvel Rivals having a large X-Men-themed season is a likely possibility that would be the next great idea from the genre-changing title.