Our first look at Ultron in Marvel Rivals

NetEase is dropping all the deets on Marvel Rivals Season 2, kicking off on April 11. The season has a new map, the Hellfire Gala, two new heroes, and loads of team-up ability changes.

The latest “Dev Vision” video gave us a good idea of how Emma Frost, the first hero of Season 2, works as a Vanguard with telepathic abilities, but NetEase is staying tight-lipped about the second hero, Ultron.

I guess “hero” is a misnomer here. Ultron is a career villain, and similar to Dracula in Season 1, he’s being positioned as the main antagonist of the Hellfire Gala season. It’s a little awkward, then, that he’ll be teaming up with heroes once he’s out, but that’s the rub of hero games.

So place your bets now: What sort of hero will Ultron be? My gut reaction is Vanguard because of his size, but I’m leaning toward Duelist because Emma Frost is a Vanguard and I doubt NetEase will be doubling up in the same season. I suppose Ultron could be a strategist, but does anything about his cold, permanently grumpy face scream, “Come to me for healing”?

Ultron will be the final hero to follow Rivals’ old three-month season schedule. As announced in the same Dev Vision video, beginning in Season 3, NetEase will release a new hero every month. That’s a whopping 12 heroes added per year, which might be a record for live service games. Is it a good thing that Rivals’ roster will be twice its launch size in just a few short years? Your guess is as good as mine, but NetEase is prioritizing keeping the game fresh for now.