Marvel Rivals’ next hero, The Hood, arrives with Season 9.5 in August

The gun-toting supervillain will bring dark magic, demonic transformations and a potentially unusual Vanguard playstyle to NetEase’s hero shooter.

Marvel Rivals is preparing to add The Hood as its next playable character, with Parker Robbins expected to join the roster when the Season 9.5 update launches on 7 August 2026. The gun-toting supervillain will bring dark magic, demonic transformations and a potentially unusual Vanguard playstyle to NetEase’s hero shooter.

The character was formally revealed through Marvel Rivals’ Season 9 promotional campaign, following a series of earlier clues and datamined references. Season 9, titled The Mystery of Thebes, began on 10 July with Jubilee as its opening hero, while NetEase’s seasonal roadmap places its mid-season update on 7 August.

NetEase has not yet published The Hood’s complete ability breakdown, role or gameplay trailer. However, previous datamines suggest he may join Marvel Rivals as a Vanguard built around aggressive mid-range combat rather than simply standing behind a conventional defensive shield.

The Hood could be a very different kind of Vanguard

Leaked ability names point towards The Hood fighting with his signature pair of pistols, complete with an overheat system and a cooling mechanic connected to his shields. His reported kit also includes shield health management, clone projection, control over the clone’s movement range and the ability to detonate it.

Perhaps most interestingly, the leak references a demonic transformation. This could serve as The Hood’s Ultimate, temporarily replacing or strengthening his regular abilities while leaning into the supernatural side of the character. None of these abilities have been officially confirmed, however, and could still be changed before launch.

That combination would make Parker Robbins an unusual fit for the Vanguard category. Rather than relying solely on a large health pool or barriers, The Hood could use summoned duplicates and ranged attacks to disrupt formations, pressure objectives and force opponents to determine which version of him is real.

The character’s possible shield mechanics also appear particularly relevant following the introduction of Regenerative Shields in Season 9. The new health type allows some shield health to recover after a hero avoids damage for several seconds, potentially encouraging a more mobile and opportunistic approach to frontline play.

Who is The Hood?

Introduced to Marvel Comics in 2002, The Hood is the criminal identity of Parker Robbins. Unlike many of Marvel’s more traditionally powerful villains, Robbins began as a small-time thief before obtaining a mystical cloak and boots that granted him supernatural abilities.

He subsequently rose through New York’s criminal underworld, combining organised crime with dark magic and becoming a recurring enemy of the Avengers and several street-level Marvel heroes. His powers have included invisibility, teleportation, levitation and the ability to transform into a demonic form.

Marvel is also expanding the character’s history within the game’s universe through Origins of the Hood: Marvel Rivals #1. The comic follows Robbins as he attacks Kingpin’s criminal empire and explores his journey from a hero-worshipping child to an increasingly power-hungry villain.

The Hood will become Marvel Rivals’ second new character of Season 9 when its mid-season update arrives on 7 August. NetEase is expected to reveal his official role, abilities, Team-Up options and launch cosmetics closer to release.

Authored by Paul McNally

Paul McNally has been around consoles and computers since his parents bought him a Mattel Intellivision in 1980. He has been a prominent games journalist since the 1990s, spending over a decade as editor of popular print-based video games and computer magazines, including a market-leading PlayStation title. Paul has written high-end gaming content for GamePro, Official Australian PlayStation Magazine, PlayStation Pro, Amiga Action, Mega Action, ST Action, GQ, Loaded, and the The Mirror. He has also hosted panels at retro-gaming conventions and can regularly be found guesting on gaming podcasts and Twitch shows. Believing that the reader deserves actually to enjoy what they are reading is a big part of Paul’s ethos when it comes to gaming journalism, elevating the sites he works on above the norm.

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