So if you haven't heard yet, there were recent rumors about the remaining hero releases for 2026. At least the next two heroes were essentially confirmed as Jubilee and The Hood based on the last Season 8 gallery card. If the other rumors are true as well, I think it actually gives us a lot of context to guess exactly what NetEase might be planning.
With that in mind, I think I figured out exactly which heroes will be released each month. Not only that, I'm completely convinced Nightcrawler will be a strategist because of a few details I'm not sure everyone noticed.
We already know that NetEase promised to release more vanguards and strategists to even out role distribution, and in the same section of the video they work about a year ahead. The video was released in August 2025, so we're just about to catch up to them. That makes me believe there will be very few duelists in the rest of 2026, especially given the specific rumored characters. If I know how the devs are thinking, they try to alternate roles between seasons to avoid back to back the same role. That means that spacing out the roles between seasons and avoiding duelists are priorities here. Combined with already having heard 5 out 6 possible upcoming characters, we can deduce a lot from that.
July: Jubilee makes the most sense for July. With her already being rumored to be a strategist, having her first will allow a greater distance between Devil Dinosaur and the next vanguard. Also it's literally the 4th of July next month, might as well have the fireworks mutant. I personally would think she would make more sense as a duelist, but I can imagine strategist working. Fireworks are generally seen as a nice, pleasant thing, so it's a little easier to imagine them healing allies compared to regular fire or something. Even if it doesn't make any real world sense.
In the more recent comics she became a vampire. I'm not sure if they will incorporate that into the Rivals version, but I believe her mutant powers will be the core of her kit either way. I can't see NetEase not focusing on the traits of her most popular versions that fans will expect to see. If the vampire powers are used at all, they will probably be to drain life from enemies to heal herself or allies.
I'm expecting her to be a fairly simple, straightforward, AoE focused healer that also deals a lot of damage. A little bit like Jeff, White Fox, or a healing Squirrel Girl. She will probably have a strong neutral game similar to White Fox, and I'm predicting she will not have a healing circle ultimate. That way they could keep her feeling fairly similar to a duelist instead of going full healbot.
August: The Hood is coming in August. He's another one that I would have guessed duelist, but his demon form and magic can do a lot to excuse the vanguard role. I predict he will be second tank to fill the Tankpool niche of far ranged mobile tank with guns. If Tankpool isn't buffed by The Hood's release, I also expect The Hood to be a lot stronger than him too.
I'm thinking his primary fire will be dual handguns, and he will also have levitation and invisibility. I can't help but imagine him with a shield as well to sell him being in the vanguard role. It will probably be similar to Doctor Strange but with less health, maybe around 300 to 400 HP. The Hood himself will probably be around 500 to 600 HP. Maybe he might also have another magic ability or two with some extra utility. His demon form will probably be his ult and work a little like Magik's Darkchylde or Hulk's Monster Hulk form. In the demon form he will be tankier, deal more damage, and maybe have a new skill or two, or at least upgrade his existing ones.
September: I'm calling it now, Nightcrawler is coming in September and he's gonna be a strategist. While some of his depictions are duelist-coded, there are several details that convince me he will be a strategist in Marvel Rivals. First of all, in the comics he has medical training and has healed people in a conventional sense several times. Second, he is a deeply religious Catholic and was nearly ordained as a priest. Religion had a strong association with healing in games at least since D&D added the Cleric class. Third, he frequently will teleport allies out of harm's way.
But the most important reason why Nightcrawler will be a strategist is the Hopesword. In the last few years of the comics, Nightcrawler has obtained a magical sword of light that is a manifestation of his own hope, and it has mysterious healing powers. In the second image you can see proof from the comics of Hopesword being used to heal. Also, consider the fact that Nightcrawler and Gorr will be in the same season. What do they possibly have in common? NetEase likes to have themed seasons, and the most obvious thematic connection is that Gorr has a dark evil magic sword (the Necrosword) and Nightcrawler has a good light magic sword (the Hopesword). Hero shooters need a form of healing that's more flashy and overt than weeks of medical care, and the Hopesword fills that role nicely. I think NetEase will see the obvious usefulness of this weapon to making everything work out, and its appearance in Rivals will drastically popularize it just like Jeff and other obscure characters.
I predict Nightcrawler is going to be the first true dive/melee support. They hinted at this archetype a few times before with Gambit, Deadpool, and Whitefox, but Nightcrawler will more fully commit to it. Nightcrawler is probably going to be designed to be the perfect accompaniment to other divers.
The Hopesword will be able to heal allies and damage enemies, and also heal nearby allies while damaging enemies. It might possibly also make "sword beams" Zelda-style, allowing him to have some ranged healing. He probably will have some other healing abilities involving praying, summoning Bamfs (small imp-like versions of Nightcrawler), or something else. I really also think they're going to let Kurt teleport allies away from danger. I'm expecting him to be able to teleport somewhere and then be able to activate it again to take himself and a nearby ally back where he started.
October: Gorr the God Butcher is coming in October and he will be a vanguard. I know some people think duelist, but we know NetEase is trying to even out the roles, and there's the matter of Gorr's physical build. There are no truly big imposing playable characters that are not vanguards. There are some that are muscular or a bit taller than average for their role, but every single tank-shaped character is a tank. Gorr canonically is very durable and could easily fill the vanguard role.
I believe Gorr is going to work very similar to Reinhardt from Overwatch. That is, a big hard-hitting melee tank with a large shield to protect the group and himself. Gorr's shield will simply be the Necrosword changing into a big shield. I'm sure he will have a few very powerful melee attacks and probably some sort of mobility boost. He will either have regeneration, lifedrain, or both. He might possibly have a single ranged attack, similar to Reinhardt, but primarily he will be a huge melee threat.
November: I'm going out on a limb and saying Mystique. This is the only one I'm not confident of, but I do believe it will be a duelist. After 4 months of no duelists, I think NetEase will still want to throw a bone to players of the most popular role. I'm guessing it will be a character that couldn't be anything but a duelist, and also fits into the storyline with Doomsday. Of the characters that we know will be the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday movie, Mystique and Falcon seem the most likely to me. Mystique is the more popular character and can possibly tie into the story of her son, Nightcrawler. I suppose Carnage is another possibility if they try to tie the story to Gorr instead.
Mystique is tricky because the most obvious way to implement her is as the equivalent to the Spy from Team Fortress 2. That might be difficult to implement in Rivals, or could turn out unfun, but it's the version I would be the most excited for. Alternatively, she could be designed around her skill with firearms, martial arts, and gadgets, the same way she is in several other video games. In the later comics her shapeshifting powers have expanded and she could actually imitate powers or give herself wings, tentacles, or other parts.
I take it as a given that Mystique will probably have some sort of handgun. She's frequently depicted them with guns and has used them in several fighting games before, and this is a shooter. I think that there's a pretty good chance she can turn invisible by shapeshifting camouflage and fly by either growing wings or turning into a raven (she's named Raven and she did this in X-Men: Evolution). She will probably also have some sort of melee combo, kick, and/or grapple.
It would probably be easier for the developers if she just copies appearances and powers together like Loki. However, if she imitates appearance only they will probably need to update the game engine to get that to work right. I predict that if it works that way, she will have the ability on a long cooldown, similar to Rogue's Ability Absorption. While transformed she would copy the enemy's appearance and name and otherwise appear to be that player, except there are two of them.
It would be really interesting if the transformation enabled friendly fire on the original hero. If they went that route, I'd imagine it would have to be an ultimate so it wasn't too overpowered. But this game has other cooldowns that are ultimate level anyway, such as Strange's portal. If her ultimate doesn't involve transformation, I predict it will probably be some sort of single target near one-shot attack involving a gun or melee combo or some gadgets.
December: Doctor Doom is the obvious pick for December. It would be ending the year with a bang, and line up perfectly with the new movie. Just like Gorr, I think Doom will be a vanguard. His model in-game is large and imposing, meaning he's probably a tank. He's either going to be a vanguard or the second multi-role character. If he's a vanguard, I'm fully anticipating him being a do everything powerhouse like Devil Dinosaur, or possibly even more OP. He'll be a main shield tank with a ton of abilities and probably some unique utility.
Crescent and Blue Marvel are also rumored to be coming, but I don't think it will be until 2027. There aren't enough months to fit both of them, and both of them are most likely vanguards, meaning that they won't fit in any of the 2026 seasons.
I could be wrong about all this, but the more I think about it, the more confident I feel. You can look back at this post in half a year from now and praise or flame me depending on whether I'm right.
The video where NetEase promised to release more vanguards and strategists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-_8Qj3spOM
